Difficulties Will Arise
by mandamedieval
Summary: -Sequel to Unexpectedly Acquainted- Aurelia Leandra Finn and Draco Lucius Malfoy have both made it through the war. Now they must both prepare for a new one. It's not as easy as it sounds...
1. Just A Dream

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**1. Just A Dream

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**Disclaimer**:I'm not JK Rowling. 'Nuff said.  
**Author's Note:** Wow, I can't believe it. A sequel. This is actually pretty exciting. I hope I have as much fun writing this as I did writing _Unexpectedly Acquainted_. The title just sort of came to me. Thank you to everyone that tried to help in coming up with one. I'm not sure if I like the title the best right now but I suspect it just needs to grow on me. Well, you didn't come here to listen to me rant. Here it is! The long awaited chapter 1 of _Unexpectedly Acquainted_'s sequel, _Difficulties Will Arise!_

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Aurelia Leandra Finn sat rubbing her temples at a large mahogany desk. Several books--retrieved from the many stacked around the walls--lay propped open in front of her. Parchment upon parchment was scattered on the table top and nothing seemed to make sense. She leaned back in the big, comfortable chair and exhaled a deep breath. She rubbed her hazel eyes hoping, somewhere far in the back of her mind, that it would get rid of the purple bags under them, caused by hours of sleep deprivation. With a wide yawn and a tensed-up stretch, Aurelia leaned back over the desk and tried to focus on the task at hand.

Just as the words in front of her came into focus, the doorbell rang. The magical sound echoed through the entire house and interrupted Aurelia's train of thought. She cursed quietly to herself and sighed as she faintly heard voices two floors below--a conversation between her guest and house elf. Less than three minutes later, a knock came at the door to the room she currently sat it.

"Come in," she called, her voice slightly hoarse from not having been used all day.

"Aurelia, what in Merlin's name are you doing?" the guest said.

Draco Malfoy stepped fully into the room and Aurelia's breath nearly caught in her throat. She had almost forgotten just how beautiful he really was. His white-blond hair hung loosely around his ears, falling just above his striking silver eyes. His pale skin was perfectly flawless and nearly sparkled in the candle-light. He stood up straight, making his tall figure look even more immaculately built. Nearly an entire lifetime of Quidditch shaped his body in the most amazing way.

Draco is Aurelia's boyfriend. Their relationship was quite an unusual one. Draco and Aurelia had attended school together for seven years. However, neither of them were friends or even on speaking terms--not that they were on non-speaking terms, either--for six of those years. Due to a series of unpredictable events, that changed. They were rather unexpectedly acquainted.

Until the age of seventeen, Draco and Aurelia were merely classmates that thought they had nothing at all in common except that they were magic. They both attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and considered each other classmates and nothing more. On Halloween night in 1997, however, they found something else they shared. They both were followers of a dark wizard named Lord Voldemort. He was, perhaps, the most powerful wizard of all time. His followers, who went by the name of Death Eaters, agreed to his belief that Wizards were superior in the human race. And not just any wizards but purebloods: Wizards who had at least three generations of magic before them.

Aurelia Finn and Draco Malfoy were part of some of the oldest pureblood families in Britain. This would usually have been enough to spark any of kind of friendship but apparently, it wasn't. What really got them to recognize one another was finding out that they were Death Eaters alongside each other. On that Halloween night, Aurelia and Draco became more than just classmates.

Their "friendship" did go through a lot of rough patches because Aurelia and Draco continued to find they had more than a little in common. In truth, they were both exactly the same: Arrogant, stubborn, rich, conceded, moody, short-tempered and way in over their heads. Some say opposites attract and maybe that's true. But it is also true that two negatives equal a positive. And these two very large negatives equalled one very large positive. After many trials and turbulations, Aurelia and Draco finally realized that their similarities were what made them perfect for each other. And so they were; absolutely perfect.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she snapped.

"It looks like you're over-working yourself," he replied.

"I'm fine."

"Reli," he sighed and walked over to her. He took her hand and lifted her up to stand in front of him. "You need to take a break."

"I'm fine," she repeated stubbornly and sat back down.

"Aurelia, look at yourself! You look like you haven't slept in days! If you're father were here…"

"Yeah? Well, he's not!"

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "That was out of line."

"Yes, it was," she tried to say icily but her voice broke and instead, it sounded like a sob.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"Why did you come here?" she asked, drawing in a calming breath to collect herself.

"I wanted to see you. I haven't seen you in nearly a week. You haven't owled me, you haven't come over, I'm starting to think you're avoiding me."

"I've been busy," she said.

"Too busy to talk to your own boyfriend?" he asked coolly.

"Merlin, Draco! What am I supposed to do? I don't have time to even breathe! It's been a year, Draco! And what have I gotten done? Nothing!" she sobbed. "I'm such rubbish at this. I told you! Did I not tell you that I would be rubbish at this?"

"Aurelia, you're doing fine," he whispered and stroked her dark brown hair gently. He bent down on his knees to make his face level with hers and looked into her eyes, to be sure she was listening. "You are doing everything you can. You're nineteen years old, they can't expect any more than this from you. You are doing wonderfully."

"They don't trust me," she said and turned away from his piercing stare.

"They just need some time."

"It's been a year," she reminded him.

"And most of that year was spent either in Azkaban or in hiding."

"They don't trust me," she repeated. Draco was about to answer when a cry was heard from the adjacent room.

"Shouldn't you go get that?" Draco mocked. Aurelia rolled her eyes.

"Tawny!" she called to no one. A house elf appeared in front of her with a _pop_.

"Yes, miss?"

"Where's Isabella?" she asked.

"It's Sunday, miss. Miss Isabella not work today, miss," the house elf cringed. She hated being the bearer of bad news when Aurelia was in a sour mood.

"Right," Aurelia sighed and waved her hand to dismiss the house elf whom Disapparated much too eagerly.

"Do you want _me_ to go?" Draco asked.

"No," she shook her head. "I've got it."

With another sigh, Aurelia left the room and followed the sound down the hall to a room with a light oak door. She pushed it open and the crying became much louder. The walls in the room were a light pastel green, covered in several places with picture frames. The giggling babies and smiling adults in the pictures all waved at Aurelia. A trunk in the corner of the room was opened and filled to the brim with toys of all sorts. In the very centre of the room was a white crib.

Trying to drown out the loud cries, Aurelia made her way across the carpeted floor to the crib with Draco behind her. She lifted the crying baby boy into her arms and rocked him gently.

"Shh," she cooed. "Don't cry, baby. Don't cry, love."

"He looks so much like you," Draco whispered in Aurelia's ear. He put his arm around her and stroked the boy's cheek.

"Don't cry, love," Aurelia repeated to the child, smiling at Draco's words. "Don't cry, Tommy. Don't cry."

Aurelia began to hum a lullaby as she rocked her child gently in her arms. After a few minutes, he fell asleep and Aurelia placed him back in his crib, pulling a blanket over his frail body. Without a sound, Draco and Aurelia tip-toed out of the room, closing the door silently behind them.

"Sometimes I almost like Isabella's days off," Aurelia admitted.

"She's a good nanny," Draco nodded. "But she's not his mother."

"I have to get back to work," Aurelia shook her head, attempting to focus.

"No," he grabbed her waist. "No, you don't."

"Draco, stop," she insisted.

"Aurelia, you need a break. Why don't you owl Pansy? Or maybe you and I can do something. Or _maybe_ you can take a nap because it looks like you really need one."

"I _could_ do with a snooze," she sighed in defeat. "Fine, twenty minutes."

"Sure, sure." With a roll of her eyes, a deep sigh and a small kiss, Aurelia went to her bedroom and lay in the large bed. Within minutes, sleep overtook her.

She woke up screaming.

"Aurelia!" Draco burst into the room, looking around frantically. Aurelia tried to take calming breaths as she realized that it was just a dream. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Bad dream," she shook her head.

She was used to having nightmares but they still frightened her deeply. The square room of five beds, the six people around her, the deafening silence only interrupted by her loud sobs. Each time she woke, she had to remind herself that it wasn't real. Except that it was real. Maybe not at that exact moment in time but it was real, once.

"Oh, good," Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought for a moment you might be hurt, too."

"Too? What do you mean 'too'?"

"Erm," he hesitated. Aurelia could hear her heart pounding in her chest. "I have some…bad news."

_Just a nightmare_, she told herself. _It's still just a dream._

"Is it Tom?" she asked hastily.

"No, it isn't Tom," he assured. "He's perfectly fine. Sleeping."

"Then, what!" The pounding in her chest grew louder and faster. She felt it drum in her ears.

"It's…It's your mother, Aurelia."

_Thud, thud, thud_, her heart echoed.

"What about her?"

"She's dead."

_Just a nightmare,_ she told herself._ It's still just a dream. I'm not awake yet._

Aurelia laughed. She literally sat there and laughed. Her laugh was shallow, empty. She laughed trying to make the dream go away. If she acted irrationally, the dream would go away. She would wake up in her nice warm bed, not this cold mattress she sat on. She would awake to a happy Draco and he would smile his heartbreaking smile and kiss her warmly. There wouldn't be a frown upon his face. There wouldn't bad news. She laughed to make it all go away.

"Aurelia?" he sounded concerned, worry coloured his perfect face. Aurelia kept laughing. Any moment now, she'd wake up. Slowly, her laughter turned to sobbing and it was soon accompanied by tears.

"Why won't I wake up?!" she yelled, tears streaming her face.

"Aurelia, you're not asleep, love," Draco said, pulling her into his arms.

"Yes I am," she sobbed hysterically into his shirt.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, no!" she screamed. He held her close.

.

The weather was mocking. It was warm and dry. Not your typical British weather. Aurelia frowned at the sky. What she wouldn't do for some rain clouds. She wished she could colour the sky grey and get rid of the blue; hide the sun.

"Ready, love?" Draco stepped into the doorway. His white-blond hair still hung loosely around his face but his silver eyes were sad, solemn. They didn't sparkle with happiness and love the way they usually did in her presence. They were mournful today. She glanced at his black robes and sighed.

"Ready," she replied, her voice cracking. They continued down the stairs to the Foyer where Isabella stood with baby Tom in her hands, waiting for her.

He was so beautiful. He looked so much like Aurelia. The small bits of brown hair, the hazel eyes, the lightly-toned skin. It was almost like looking into a mirror. She winced as she looked at his hazel eyes. Aurelia had gotten those eyes from her mother and now it was passed onto her son. She would forever have to look into those eyes and remember.

"I've got him," she whispered to the nanny and took Tom into her own hands. She forced herself to look him in the eyes. He was happy, completely oblivious to what was going on. Aurelia shuddered at the thought of her child. He would grow up without a grandfather, without a grandmother and without a father. She turned to look at the man beside her and smiled. If only.

They sat in silence during the long car ride to the church. She would have much rather preferred to Apparate and save herself from having to sit in this silence but knew that Side-Along-Apparition would be unhealthy for her baby. When they finally arrived, it was nearly noon. Aurelia sighed as she stepped quietly out of the car and walked the steps to the doors of the church.

It was beautiful inside, like most old churches it looked almost like a small cathedral. The stain-glass windows depicting saints, the statues of Mother Mary and her baby Jesus, the large white-marble altar in the centre of a raised platform, the long lines of wooden pews facing away from the oak double doors. The only difference today was the teak coffin in front of the altar. The black finish of the wood contrasted with every warm colour in the large room.

Flowers of every kind were littered around the area, making the setting seem happy and warm. The only thing that subtracted this feeling was the mass sea of people in the pews all dressed in black robes, sobbing silently into the shoulders of their seating partner. Aurelia drew in a deep breath and continued down the centre aisle to the front row, her cloak billowing behind her.

She didn't listen as the priest made his speech. She was concentrating hard on her own. As the closest living relative of Leandra,--apart from her grandmother, whom was too old and sick to speak to a crowd--she was asked to make a speech at her funeral. After nearly two weeks of preparing the speech, she didn't know what to say. The words that were written on the parchment in her pocket seemed empty and meaningless. She couldn't properly make a speech about her mother's life. If she were to do so, she would talk about the way her mother was always selfish. The way she only thought about herself and put herself before everyone in her life, including her daughter. She would talk about the fact that they were barely on speaking terms since Aurelia was fifteen years old. That the only time they had ever spent time together was when her father forced them to. But this was a funeral, she couldn't tell all of these mourning people that the last time she saw her mother, she wished her death.

Aurelia distinctly heard her name and rose from her seat, handing a sleeping Tom to Isabella. She trudged up to the podium and felt something hot sting her cheeks. Tears. It was odd to think that she was crying over her mother's death. She never thought she would. When her father died, she thought about how she would react if her mother were to die as well. This was not what she pictured.

"Leandra Finn," Aurelia began. "Was a woman we all held dear to our hearts. She was a mother, a daughter, a friend. Nothing was ever too hard or too much for her. When she set her mind to a task, she continued on with it. Leandra, my mother, would always tell me 'That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger.' I think she got that from a muggle." A few chuckles were heard but were quickly replaced by sobs. "If you ever needed someone to console you, it was Leandra. If you ever needed someone to talk to, it was Leandra. She listened to others better than anyone I'd ever known. She was always willing to be there for a friend or a family member. To take them in if they had no where to go, to help them get better if they were ill. No matter how small a task, Leandra never gave it up." Aurelia felt her voice weakening. "Even when it was difficult to admit defeat, Leandra took it with her head held high, knowing that she gave it her best. Leandra Finn is someone that will never leave our hearts. She most certainly will never leave mine."

People applauded lightly as they cried. Aurelia stepped down from the podium and returned to her seat, not really hearing them. She knew her speech was empty. She didn't know if it was the best thing to do. Maybe it was an insult to her memory. But she didn't want to insult her memory to everyone else so she stuck with naming a few things that were true and just sugar-coating them a little.

"That was wonderful," she heard Draco's voice beside her. He kissed her cheek and returned his attention to the priest. Aurelia stopped listening.

The car ride to the cemetery was filled with more silence. Tom continued to sleep. There was nothing to distract her. She didn't listen to the priest again. She only watched the closed coffin. She stared at it so much she was sure her gaze would burn holes through the wood. She didn't turn away, though. Once it was buried, she stood staring at the ground for a moment before walking silently back to the car.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked quietly. Aurelia shrugged as she watched the buildings, cars and people pass by through the window. "Do you want to sleep?"

Aurelia shook her head. She didn't want to sleep at all. She knew that sleep would just bring about more nightmares. She didn't want that. She wasn't awake from this one just yet.

"Mama?" Tom whimpered.

"I've got him," Aurelia said in a detached voice and took her son into her arms. She felt Draco's arm around her and leaned her head into his shoulder, looking down at the giggling baby as she fed him. She swore to herself, as she sat there, that she would be everything to that boy that her father was to her. She would be everything that her mother wasn't.

Later that night, after Aurelia had put Tom to bed, she sat drinking a cup of tea while Draco watched her. His expression was worried.

"How are you feeling?" he repeated the question for the umpteenth time.

"Fine," she lied.

"I think," he hesitated a little. "I should go home, it's getting late."

"No," she whimpered, snapping her head up to look at him. "Please, stay."

She sounded so desperate. Every inch of her began to tingle as she thought of being alone that night. She shuddered.

"I don't think I should," he shook his head.

"Draco," she pleaded, new tears were making their way down her cheeks. "Don't leave me."

His expression suddenly turned sorrowful. "I won't leave you," he whispered as he embraced her.

As he walked her up to bed, Aurelia cried. She cried silently. The only thing that gave her away were the tears streaming out of her eyes. She clung to Draco tightly as they walked up the stairs. He rubbed her back gently and whispered that it would be okay. Aurelia knew it would be okay. It would be just fine as soon as she woke up from this long nightmare.

"Try to sleep," Draco whispered as they lay in bed. Aurelia had her head on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart and feeling the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

"Draco?" she whispered. She was slowly slipping out of consciousness and needed to stay awake for just a small moment longer. She battled with herself, not drifting away just yet.

"What is it?"

"I think that it's time," she whispered and closed her protesting lids, finally giving up the fight and falling asleep. The last thing she felt before unconsciousness, were Draco's warm lips on her forehead.

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**A/N:** Sorry for making it so depressing. I think it set a mood for the story, though. I mean, it won't all be depressing or anything. There will most definitely be happy things in this story. I'm just saying...

Anyway! I really hope you all enjoyed it! I had fun writing it. Chapter two is in progress. It should be out ASAP. I'll try to get it finished.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Reviews are extra special :) Please and thank you!


	2. Not A Good Time

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**2. Not A Good Time

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**Disclaimer:** Why would I write fanfiction if I owned Harry Potter?  
**Author's Note:** Sorry this took so long. School got in the way. It's a little short. My bad :)

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"Draco?" Aurelia called groggily, her eyes not yet completely open.

"I'm here," Draco answered from somewhere across the room.

"Draco!" Aurelia cried much more alert, sitting up in bed…too quickly. Everything started spinning and she had to lie back down, shutting her eyes tightly to make the room come back to normal.

"Are you alright?" Draco rushed hastily to her side.

"Yeah, yeah, fine," she waved off. "Did you _hear_ that?"

"Hear what?"

"Exactly!"

"What?"

"Nothing, forget it," she shook her head, still slightly dazed.

"Are you _sure_ you're alright?"

"Did you hear any of what I said last night?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"Something about it being time?" She shook her head eagerly, waiting for him to continue. "You're not serious, are you?"

"Why not?!"

"I don't know," he shook his head. "Maybe we should talk to my father."

"Fine."

"I must say," he smirked. "This is the most…chipper that I've seen you in months."

"Nice to know," she said bitterly. He laughed.

Once Aurelia was dressed and well-composed, she and Draco awaited Isabella's arrival anxiously. After what seemed like forever, the doorbell rang. Tawny opened the door to see a very soaked nanny standing on the porch.

"Isabella!" Aurelia greeted cheerfully, stepping into the Foyer at the sound of her arrival. "Merlin, why are you so _wet_?"

"Raining," she mumbled sourly.

"Squibs," Aurelia muttered under her breath and cast a Drought Charm on Isabella.

"Thanks."

"Isabella, I'm going to be gone for the weekend. Would you mind looking after Tom?"

"Not at all, Miss Finn," she said meekly.

"Lovely!"

"Reli, sweetheart, we need to get going."

"Right," she nodded to Draco, then turned to Isabella. "Tommy's asleep right now. You know what to do from there. The guest room is all set up. Tawny will be giving a full report when we—I—get back."

"Don't worry, Miss Finn, everything will be fine," Isabella assured.

"It better be," Aurelia said curtly before Disapparating.

"Dad!" Draco called into the depths of his home. Several moments later, Lucius and Narcissa stepped in through a side door.

"Oh, hello again Aurelia, we haven't seen you in a while," Lucius greeted. "I'm sorry about your mother."

"Thank you, sir." Aurelia sent a small responsive smile.

"Draco, you didn't come home last night," Narcissa hinted with a wink.

"Mum, it was her mother's funeral. Lay off, will you?" Draco groaned.

"Sure, sure" Narcissa nodded, still grinning. Aurelia couldn't help but giggle silently.

"So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company today, Aurelia?" Lucius cut in as Draco opened his mouth to retort. He began leading them into the living room.

"Erm…how to best say this…," Aurelia hesitated.

"Aurelia wants to start the second war," Draco said bluntly.

"No, absolutely not," Lucius shook his head without a second thought.

"And why not?!"

"It hasn't been long enough since the first war," Lucius tried. "People are still on their guard."

"It's been a year, Lucius!" she boomed, the politeness and respect in her tone was gone. _She_ was now _his_ superior.

"You should give it at least another year," he continued and added, "My Lord."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"The Ministry and the Order are keeping an extra eye on all past convicted Death Eaters, whether the convictions hold true or not. Since they found your father was a Death Eater after he died,"—Aurelia flinched and Draco squeezed her hand tightly— "that even though your act of ignorance convinced them, it's still not safe for you."

"What are you saying? That they're…_watching_ me?"

"You, us," he gestured to himself, Draco and Narcissa in one swift hand movement. "Pansy's family, too."

"That's sick! Can that be _legal_?" Aurelia was appalled.

"Apparently," Lucius nodded grimly. Aurelia shook her head in disgust and surrendered.

"What can we do?" Draco joined the conversation. Aurelia shot him a look which he ignored.

"Nothing."

"That's not good enough, Lucius," Aurelia growled.

"I know, my lord, but there's honestly nothing we can do. It's not worth us all getting put into Azkaban."

"Ha!" Aurelia snorted. "As though I would ever land myself in prison. Come now, Lucius, you now me better than that."

"Perhaps," he nodded." But I still discourage it, my lord."

"Of course you do," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're right," she nodded and sighed in defeat. "I'll be in my room."

Lucius nodded and Aurelia trudged up the stairs to the guest room which she had soon come to call her own in the past year.

"Aurelia? Is it alright if I come in?" Draco poked his head cautiously into the room. Aurelia made a low grunt that sounded somewhat positive so he walked in, closing the door behind him.

"I don't get it," she said quietly.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Get what?"

"How this happened."

"Aurelia," he crossed the room to sit beside her. "You're going to get through this and I'm going to help. I promised, remember?"

"Yeah, you also promised that my dad and Pansy were going to be perfectly fine! Look how that turned out! My father is dead and Pansy is paralyzed from the waist down! That's not exactly _fine_!" She was sobbing at this point.

"Oh," he sighed and pulled her into his arms. He pressed his lips to her hair and rested his cheek to the top of her head.

"Ugh," she groaned in disgust and pushed away from Draco. "This is ridiculous."

"Aurelia…?"

"Look at me! I'm an emotional wreck! I am positively the worst dark wizard—witch—to ever walk the earth. Ugh, I'm going to take a shower." She stood up with a last repulsed shake of her head and left the room.

About two hours later, Draco was walking up the stairs to his room when he heard voices coming from the one next to his. He walked up to the door of Aurelia's bedroom and pressed his ear against the door. He could hear Aurelia and his father arguing in low voices. He strained his ear to listen.

"No, Lucius, this can't wait that long! How many times do I need to remind everyone that it has been _a year_!"

"I'm sorry, my lord, but I just don't think it's safe. You know, _he_ waited practically fourteen years."

"I don't care what _he_ did. This is about what_ I'm_ doing!"

"And what you're doing won't work if you do it now!"

"I'm sure it can be done discreetly!"

"Don't be absurd…erm, my lord…sorry…this can't be done discretely! This is war you're talking about!"

"You do realize that I don't need your permission to do anything?"

"I know that, my lord, but I'm simply hoping that you will take my opinion into _extremely careful_ consideration."

It was quiet after that. Seconds later, Draco heard the bustle of someone sliding a chair back over the carpet and standing up. He quickly dashed to his room.

With a last firm look, Lucius Malfoy slid the chair back over the carpet and quietly exited Aurelia's room. She heaved a sigh and slumped back on her bed, relaxing her previous demanding position. It had been a long time since she had switched into her "leader mode" and being at the Malfoy Manor really took a lot out of her. She hated being harsh with Lucius, she was too used to having to respect him and not the other way around.

_Things are different now,_ she told herself. _You're not the same Aurelia Finn anymore! Get used to it!_

That didn't help her much, though. She kept telling everyone that it had been a year and that a year was long enough but somehow she still had trouble getting used to the idea herself sometimes. Not that this mattered. When it came time for war, she couldn't stop suddenly and say, 'Sorry, I'm not feeling comfortable being so harsh at the moment.'

It simply didn't work that way.

"Aurelia?" Draco called from the other side of the door less than five minutes later.

"Come in."

"I was wondering…," he began as he crossed the room swiftly.

"Yes?"

"If my opinion mattered?" he rubbed the back of his head nervously as he said this. Something about hearing Aurelia yell at his father that way made him uneasy in her presence.

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's just that…," he drew in a deep breath. "I know you think my father is trying to be controlling but he really probably does know what's best at the moment. And if it's of any consolation, I agree with him." He fell down on his knees to make his face level with hers. "Aurelia, I'm honestly begging you here. Don't do it yet. You're not ready. I know you're not. And, as my father said, this is a really bad time. Please don't. Do it for me. Do it for Tom!"

"Draco-,' she began but sighed in defeat. "Fine."

"Really?" Draco's eyes lit up and he bounced to his feet. "Thank you so much, Reli."

"Sure, sure."

She couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, Draco and Lucius were right—this is just a maybe, mind you.

Though all of the decisions seemed to be made, Aurelia still hated them. She hated the thought of having to sit around as a useless lump for another year. It wasn't like her. She wanted things to get moving. Nothing about sitting quietly for twelve more months appealed to her.

"Are you sure?" she complained to Draco before she left to go home.

"Aurelia, please, not this again."

"But are you absolutely sure?"

"I'm sure," he repeated. "I'm sure."

"Liar."

"_Aurelia!_"

"Fine," she huffed. "But don't expect me to let this go."

"Uh-huh, sure."

Sticking out her tongue at him, Aurelia Disapparated.

"Isabella!" she called, walking up the stairs. "Isabella, are you guys home?"

A head poked out of the nursery door. "Good afternoon, Miss Finn."

The woman had long greying hair that was once a brilliant shade of red. Her large blue eyes had small wrinkles around them, giving them a paling look. She was no taller than a thirteen-year-old boy but her presence was somewhat intimidating. As Aurelia eyed her maroon robes, she raised her eyebrows.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, pardon," she grinned sheepishly, increasing the wrinkles on her face. "My name is Teresa Flaherety."

"Uh-huh. And what are you doing here?"

"Watching your son," she smiled innocently as though this was a completely normal thing.

"Excuse me? Where's Isabella?"

"Miss Watson fell ill."

"Uh-huh. So what gives you the right to be in my home?" Without waiting for an answer she quickly jumped to a different question. "Where's my son? Where's Tom?"

"Sleeping," she replied placidly.

Aurelia shoved past her into the nursery. Sure enough, Tom was laying in his crib, wrapped up in a blue blanket, soundly asleep. Aurelia turned to the woman called Teresa and stalked out of the room.

"You have no right to be here. This is trespassing."

"Pardon, ma'am, perhaps I introduced myself incorrectly," she shook her head, smiling. "I'm Teresa Flaherety of the Care of Wizarding Youth department, at the ministry."

"The Ministry?"

"That's right."

"That still gives you no right to be here. Your lot deal with abandon children. My son is just fine. Isabella could have simply owled me. Or reached me via floo network. She knew where I was. I would have come home immediately."

"She didn't want to disturb you," the woman said.

"Sure she didn't," Aurelia turned away and walked in the opposite direction of Teresa and the nursery. She expected Teresa to take this as an invitation to leave. She didn't.

"You have a beautiful home, Miss Finn," she said, walking after her.

"You would know," she grumbled under her breath as she made her way down to the kitchen. "The door is the other way, you know."

"Yes."

"Well, then?"

"I've noticed," Teresa began, ignoring Aurelia's obvious implication. "that you read a lot of books on the Dark Arts."

"I beg your pardon?" Aurelia whipped around.

"In your study."

"It's my father's study and I would appreciate it if you would never step foot in there again."

"Why, may I ask?"

"Because it's an invasion of privacy! And an insult to his memory! No one is allowed in that room anymore."

"I see," she nodded in suspicion.

"Why are you here?" Aurelia asked again, a different meaning behind her words this time.

"To watch your son."

"I'm here now. He doesn't need watching," Aurelia pointed out icily.

"So, I hear you work in the Magical Menagerie?"

"Where do you hear that?"

"Must be a tiring job."

"Sure."

"Do you leave Tommy alone often?"

"What are you getting at?" Aurelia eyed her.

"Nothing. Just wondering."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"So, where were you this weekend?" Teresa continued.

"I was at my boyfriend's."

"That would be the Malfoy Residence, correct?"

"Where are you hearing all of this from?" Aurelia demanded.

"Did you know the Malfoys used to be in league with You-Know-Who?" Teresa raised an eyebrow.

"So? That was over a year ago. They changed sides. Everyone knows it," Aurelia jumped in to defend.

"Yes, of course."

"Look, I think that maybe it's time you left."

"Yes, of course. I probably should be going. Good day, Miss Finn," the woman nodded and Disapparated without a moment's thought.

That woman was something else. No way she was in the Care of Wizarding Youth department. More like the Magical Law Enforcement Office. Something was up.

Aurelia shook off the thought. No. No one was watching her. She was being paranoid. Lucius had no idea what he was talking about.

* * *

**A/N: **Yep, I told you it was short. Sorrryyyy

By the way...

**Happy Birthday Hermione Granger!**


	3. Just Another Day

**Difficulties **_**Will**_** Arise**  
2. Not A Good Time

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own Harry Potter. Ha. Just kidding.  
**Author's Note**: Whoa, this took forever. I think I just need to get used to not having the time for this kind of stuff anymore. Not like I did in the summer anyway. Oh well. It got here eventually. Enjoy :)

"Mrs. Malfoy, thank you so much for doing this. I wouldn't ask if I didn't really need it," Aurelia thanked Narcissa Malfoy before she left the house for work.

"Don't mention it," Narcissa smiled. "I love spending time with Tommy. Now, I do believe you start work in about five minutes."

"Oh! You're right. Thanks again," she called and Disapparated. She reappeared again in the back room of the Magical Menagerie. Throwing on her uniform vest, Aurelia rushed into the front room of the store to find a very impatient shop keeper.

"Morning," he said curtly.

"I'm not late."

He huffed and shuffled away to tend at a rather loud screech owl that was making a large mess in the corner. Aurelia rolled her eyes and took her place behind the counter, waiting for the day's first customer to arrive.

It was a long wait.

Nearly two hours later, a man with a short brown beard that didn't at all match his flaming red hair entered the shop. He looked around twice before turning his attention to Aurelia. She straightened up and took on a professional stature.

"Welcome to the Magical Menagerie. What can I help you with today?" she said politely.

The man eyed her. "I'm looking for something to give my cat."

"What in particular do you have in mind, sir?" she smiled with fake warmth. This man did not catch her interest. She would rather he crawled in a very deep hole and died there. She couldn't turn down a customer, though.

"It's sick. Been pale the last week. Won't eat anything. Doesn't do anything anymore," he explained dully.

"How old is your cat, sir?" Aurelia asked, leading the man toward the feline care section of the store, only mildly interested in his dilemma.

"About a year."

"What you need to do is give him plenty of nutrients. Milk instead of water, that sort of thing. You might want to try adding this potion to the drink," Aurelia handed the man a small bottle from the shelf. "Simply add about three drops to each bowl-full of whole milk and your cat should be back to normal within a week or two."

"Thanks," the man said. Aurelia nodded and led him back to the counter where he paid his fourteen sickles for the potion. She didn't pay much attention to his thank you nor did she pay attention to the way his pale blue eyes looked at her as he retreated, hugging his cheap midnight blue cloak around him.

Aurelia sighed in sudden relief that he had left. She really disliked interaction with people that came in and out of the store. She preferred it much better when they simply did their shopping on their own, paid for their merchandise and left. Working in the Magical Menagerie wasn't exactly the most exciting job in the world but it put money in her pocket. Not that her Gringott's vault wasn't overflowing with the stuff already.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on.

Thankful for her ten minute break somewhere in between, Aurelia ran a trip down to the Leaky Cauldron. The place was overcrowded, as usual, with customers. She found no real pleasure in the animated atmosphere. As she sat sipping a simple mug of butterbeer, Aurelia found herself thinking about the conversation she had with the woman from the Ministry the previous night.

'_I'm Teresa Flaherety of the Care of Wizarding Youth Department' _she had said. Why did Aurelia doubt this? Was it her pressing questionnaire that had nothing at all to do with her field of work? Or was it perhaps the intimidating aura the small, seemingly harmless, woman had around her? Something about Teresa Flaherety had made Aurelia's stomach turn in the most unpleasant of ways.

With a shake of her head, Aurelia had chugged down the remainder of her drink and walked an extremely brisk pace back to the Menagerie. There, she attended to four more customers before the day was out.

With some peace and quiet promisingly ahead of her, Aurelia Apparated home with exuberant speed. When the pressure of her home's atmosphere crashed down on her, Aurelia groaned inwardly, almost wishing to be back in the crowded shop filled with screeching creatures and that nose-twisting smell.

"Oh, Aurelia," Narcissa greeted as she flitted into the room. "You're home."

"Indeed I am," Aurelia nodded. "How was Tom? No trouble, I hope?"

"No, no. He was a perfect angel," Narcissa smiled.

"Oh, wonderful," Aurelia muttered only to herself, a taste of bitterness licking at her words.

Aurelia walked into the kitchen and looked through the cupboards for a drinking glass. She filled it with water and sat at the kitchen table, trying to block out any thoughts clouding her mind. With limited success.

The doorbell rang. Aurelia stood with a sigh and reached the door before Tawny. She opened it to see Draco.

"Draco, what are you doing here?"

"Got off from work early today," he grinned. "Can I come in?"

"Of course, what kind of question is that?" she smiled and stepped aside to let him in. "So, what are you so happy about?"

"You'll see in a minute."

At his words, Aurelia heard the odd sound of someone coming in through the fireplace in the sitting room. Aurelia rose her eyebrow at Draco and went toward the sound.

"Pansy!" Aurelia cheered as she saw her best friend sitting in her wheelchair two feet from herself.

"Hello, hello," Pansy smiled.

"It's so good to see you!"

"Great to see you, too!"

"How are the legs?" Aurelia asked.

"Could be better," she grumbled.

"I can't believe they're making you do this the muggle way. What was it they called it?"

"Physical therapy," Pansy supplied. "Plus, until they figure out what kind of horrid—probably illegal—curse did this to me and how to cure it, I'm stuck."

"You would think that after a year, they would have been able to find out."

"Apparently not."

"Have you spoken to Yaxley?" Draco asked.

"No," Pansy spat.

"Oh, come on," Draco groaned. "It wasn't his fault! He didn't see you!"

"He could at least tell me what it is he did to me!"

"If he knew, I'm sure he would," Aurelia said.

"Damn memory charm," she growled. "How conveniently placed."

"Think about it this way," Draco started. "It must be terrible not to remember the battle at all. It must have been exciting."

"Exciting isn't exactly the way I would have put it," Pansy said angrily. Aurelia flinched. She felt terrible that Pansy and everyone else she knew had been out risking their lives during the Battle while she and Draco sat safely in the boys' dormitory.

_I didn't have a choice_, she reminded herself.

"Who wants some tea?" Aurelia changed the subject quickly and walked into the kitchen to fetch Tawny and give orders.

Aurelia and Draco took their seats on one of the couches. Pansy sat in her wheelchair across the table. The tea was brought out and everyone helped themselves to refreshments.

"Mum and Dad are actually worried," Pansy said when the subject of the Ministry's possible surveillance came up.

"So, they know about this?"

"Oh, yes. We figure it's only a matter of time before they start making arrests," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, it won't be us. Not if we're careful," Draco said. He turned his gaze to stare pointedly at Aurelia. "Right, Reli?"

"Sure, sure," she dismissed. "Careful."

"Hopeless," he mumbled and turned back to the conversation. "Anyway, there's not really anything they can find to convict us so long as we lay low and act natural."

"Yeah, I think you're right. Just act normal. It's not like they can completely interfere with our personal lives," Pansy agreed.

"I beg to differ," Aurelia muttered.

"What was that?"

"What?" she looked up. "Oh, nothing."

"No," Draco shook his head. "What do you mean 'I beg to differ'?"

"Nothing, just something that happened yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" Pansy asked. She looked from Aurelia to Draco who shrugged.

"A woman from the Ministry was here," she said, trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal.

"What!" Draco nearly flew out of his seat.

"It's nothing, Draco. Relax. She was just taking over for Isabella."

"Aurelia, why didn't you tell me about this?" he asked angrily.

"Can we do this later?"

"No, we can do this now!"

"Draco, don't shout."

"I'll shout just as much as I please! I can not believe you didn't tell me this, Aurelia! Do you have any idea of the things at risk? This isn't a game anymore!—"

"Not like it ever was."

"—This is serious! If they find even the slightest thing that could convict us, we're dead."

"You think I don't know that? Draco, stop treating me like a child! I know the risks! I know the dangers! I'm not stupid! You think it's _my_ fault that Isabella suddenly fell deathly ill and a Ministry woman was in my house? No! So, stop acting like it is!"

"It may not be your fault she was there but you could have at least talked to me about it! It's like you don't even want me to know about this kind of stuff! It's like you're just _looking_ for an excuse to land yourself into Azkaban!"

"Enough!" Aurelia bellowed. Draco cringed. "Now, Pansy came here to have a good time with her best friend. We'll talk about this _later_."

"Maybe I should come back some other time," Pansy said.

"No," Aurelia almost shouted. "No, stay."

"No, Reli, I should be going, I'm helping my mother make dinner today," she said. Aurelia gave Pansy a pleading look but she ignored it. "I'll see you again soon. You should stop by."

"Bye, Pansy," Aurelia said bitterly and watched as her best friend departed through the fireplace.

The moment Pansy was gone, Aurelia turned on her heel and began walking out of the sitting room. She had no desire to get into yet another fight with Draco. It had been going on for much too long. It was constantly argument after argument over every little thing. Their entire relationship was practically built on never-ending spats.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a shower because I smell like work," Aurelia replied crisply without turning around.

"Don't think that this is over, Aurelia."

"No," she spun to look at him. "This is very much over. There is no discussion to be had here, Draco. What? Are you angry with me because I didn't tell you a Ministry official was at my house? What-is-the-big-deal? I just don't get it. The risks? I know the risks, Draco! I get it! I didn't go around showing her my dark mark and plans to throw over the Ministry! I'm not an idiot, I can handle myself!"

"I didn't call you an idiot! I just can't see how we can make a relationship work when you don't tell me things! You're right, you know how to handle yourself but this is serious. This is dangerous. We don't know what they're capable of right now. We can't take any risks. _Especially you. _Do you not realize how important you are to our lives?"

"_Our?_ So, it's a plural, now?" Aurelia scoffed. "You know, there was once a time when that statement only applied to you. Not anymore though, I guess."

"Aure—."

She cut him off by raising her hand up. "Save it," she said. "I think you've said all I wanted to hear for one evening."

With that final statement, Aurelia turned back toward the door and walked through it and up the stairs. She passed Narcissa on the way who seemed to have been eavesdropping. She had a very fallen look on her pale, pointed face. Her eyes were worried. For Aurelia? Or for Draco? Either way, it didn't matter.

As she stood under the water of the shower, Aurelia began to realize that maybe it was time to accept things the way they were and to realize that this was as good as it gets. Things with Draco would never be the way they were in seventh year. They weren't school children anymore. Those days were over. They were adults now and their relationship reflected it. This was just the way things had to be.

It wasn't about happy, fairy tale endings. It was about getting through it. The moments of love and understanding at the end of the day made it all worthwhile. Until then, things had to be taken in the heavy packages that they were sent in. No returns or exchanges. The delivery owl wasn't waiting for a response on this one. She had to take what it gave her and that's that.

.

It wasn't until much later that things finally began to settle down at the Finn Manor. Despite Aurelia's chiding, Draco was not finished. He hadn't said all that she wanted to hear for one evening. The moment Aurelia emerged from her room, dressed in a casual muggle outfit, Draco had attacked her with a thousand and one questions.

"What _exactly _did she ask you?"

"How long was she here?"

"Did she see much of the house?"

"What did you tell her?"

"You didn't act too suspicious did you?"

The questions didn't seem to stop. He just kept going. This eventually led to another argument. Narcissa had tried to calm them down but her efforts were fruitless and she announced her departure. The kitchen filled with more shouts from both Draco and Aurelia, neither of them very polite. After about an hour of their discordant wrangle, Draco gave up and left the house, fuming.

Aurelia let out a deep sigh and collapsed onto a nearby chair. As if on cue, Tawny appeared in the doorway and offered a cup of tea. Aurelia nodded in response and let her head fall to the cool surface of the kitchen table. Countless thoughts whirled around in her mind but the most prominent of the lot was Draco. She didn't know how much longer their so-called relationship could survive this sort of thing. Yes, yes, she knew she had given herself the pep-talk earlier about taking things as they come and toughing it out. But that seemed insignificant at the moment. No, at this moment, she felt like the world was collapsing around her.

"Your tea, miss," Tawny said, setting the cup in front of Aurelia. She smiled in response and the house elf left the room.

Aurelia sipped her tea slowly, allowing the waves of heat emitting from the cup to warm her face. Her thoughts never strayed from Draco. She loved him, yes. But did she want him? Did she really, truly, honestly _want_ him? Maybe.

With a loud scrapping, Aurelia pushed the chair back over the tile floor and stood from her seat. She walked the cup over to the sink and set it there. Shaking her head indignantly, she left the kitchen and went to check on Tom.

He was sound asleep, undisturbed by the shouting match that took place two floors below just mere minutes prior. Aurelia guessed Narcissa had taken the liberty to place silencing charms on the room. She sighed.

As sleep slowly overtook Aurelia that night, she wondered vaguely what her life would be like without Draco and without the Malfoys. She could survive, she guessed. It would be harder but she'd get through it. If she realized that she didn't _want_ Draco despite the fact the she _loved_ him, she would need to cope with the cold, hard truth of not _having_ him. For now, the thought that it was only a 'maybe' was enough to get her through the night.

**A/N:** HA! That was fun. It was short in word count but I don't think it felt short in context. Which is good, I think. I'll try not to take so long with Chapter 4. No promises.


	4. A Break

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**4. A Break

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, right. I wish.

**Author's Note:** Whoa. This got out major fast. Am I right or am I right? I think I have the fact that my mother _finally_ took me to the library today to thank for that. I spent a good three hours in the library and about an hour and a half of that time writing this chapter. By that time, I got into it and continued writing when I got home. And so, _viola!_ Chapter 4 :)

* * *

It was a quarter past twelve.

Aurelia sighed as she sat behind the counter, flipping through a month-old copy of _Witch Weekly _magazine. She wasn't really taking in the images on the pages in front of her. Every so often, her eyes would readjust to see an ad for acne-clearing potion or an article about the latest dress robe fashion and she would tune it all out again.

_Ding, ding, ding._

The bell above the door rang as a customer entered the Magical Menagerie. Something about the man seemed déjà vu to Aurelia but she couldn't quite realize what. He walked briskly and boldly to the counter, removing a bowler hat from his head to reveal short-cropped, russet-coloured hair. The look on his face suggested superiority as did the way he stuffed a hand lazily into the pocket of his tailored robes.

"Welcome to the Magical Menagerie. How may I help you?"

"Yeah, it's my niece's eleventh birthday tomorrow. I need an owl," he said nonchalantly.

"Eleven? That's a very important age. She'll be starting Hogwarts soon, won't she?" Aurelia tried to be polite realizing that his money, no doubt plentiful, would be very important to the store.

"Sure," he nodded absently.

"Well, follow me and we'll see what your selection is," Aurelia said to the man, precluding any more ideas of conversational attempt. The man looked intently at Aurelia with his blue eyes as she led him down the very first aisle which was completely packed with screeching and hooting birds.

"Do you have anything that _doesn't_ look like it belongs in a barn?"

"I could offer you one of our snowy owls. They're said to be majestic and noble."

"Sure, I'll take one," he said in a tedious tone. Aurelia nodded, removed the snowy owl from the shelf along with its cage and carried it back to the counter. The man paid for his selection and left the store, giving Aurelia one final sweep with his pale eyes.

"Familiar," Aurelia mused.

_Ding, Ding, Ding._

The door opened a second time and a group of four teenage girls entered the shop.

"Welcome to the Magical Menagerie. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, thank you," said the smallest of the four, a red haired girl. "We're just looking."

"Ugh," Aurelia groaned and went back to flipping through her magazine.

As the day continued, Aurelia sat in her place behind the counter of the Magical Menagerie. Customers didn't come in often and when they did, Aurelia didn't need to assist most of them. During her break, she ran another trip down to the Leaky Cauldron for a butterbeer, as she did on most days. Normal routines.

When she got home, the temporary replacement nanny was waiting for her.

"How did everything go?" Aurelia asked, taking her shoes off by the door.

"It was fine, just fine," said the young girl. At sixteen, the girl was eager and most willing to please Aurelia at any cost. Though Aurelia herself was no more than three years older than the girl, she guessed that her possession of money, a job, a house and a child made her seem somewhat older.

"Great," Aurelia yawned. "You can go home. I'll be here the rest of the night."

"Yes, ma'am," the girl nodded.

"Oh and Laura?" Aurelia called back as the girl was opening the front door.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Try to dress more appropriately tomorrow," she said, eyeing the girl's muggle outfit composed of a too-short skirt and tank top. "Robes, please."

"Yes, ma'am," the girl blushed and left.

Aurelia sighed. "Please let Isabella get better soon," she said to no one.

There was a knock at the door about an hour and a half later. Aurelia groaned as she stood up from the couch and walked gingerly to answer it. Draco stood on the other side of the threshold, grinning broadly. Aurelia stepped aside to let him in.

He kissed her cheek. "How was your day?"

"Same as always," she replied. "Yours?"

"Same as always," he agreed. "Is Tom sleeping?"

"No, he's upstairs."

"May I go see him?" he asked, unsure.

"Sure."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You seem a little out of it."

"I'm tired," she snapped.

"Testy."

"Weren't you going somewhere?" she griped. He nodded and bounded up the stairs. Aurelia groaned and went back to claim her previous position on the couch in the sitting room.

"You know," Draco said as he entered the room about ten minutes later. "I think I should quit my job."

"You got fired, didn't you?" she asked, not looking up from the book she was reading.

"No," he shook his head. "I'm just thinking aloud here."

"Well, don't."

"Don't think aloud or don't quit my job?"

"Both," she replied.

"Why are you so peeved with me?" Draco sat down beside her.

"I'm not peeved with you. I just have a lot on my mind," she said, finally giving up on her book and shutting it closed.

"Would you like to share?"

"No."

"Aurelia, please? Quit shutting me out! I would really like it if you just talked to me every once in a while," he groaned.

"I'm talking to you now, aren't I?"

"Barely. Plus, you know what I mean," he said indignantly.

"Yes," she nodded. "I do know what you mean but there's nothing that I want to say to you."

"Is this about last night?"

"You know," she turned her head completely to look at him with a sharp glare. "Not everything is about you. Did you ever consider that?"

"Merlin, Aurelia! Will you please _stop_ that?" he shouted, standing up in frustration. "Are you literally trying to make me angry with you? Are you? If you are, it's working!"

"I need a shower," she said plainly and stood up from her seat, not acknowledging Draco as she walked by. He was fuming.

"Aurelia, stop!" he shouted and ran to block her path. "What has gotten into you lately? Listen, I can understand if you're angry but can you please at least tell me what you're angry about so I can apologize?"

"Draco, don't you get it? I'm _trying_ not to have another argument with you! So, can you please just _drop it_!"

"Is that was this is about? Really?" he laughed.

"I don't find this funny," Aurelia said through gritted teeth.

"Aurelia, listen, it's inevitable. I think you need to accept that. Arguing has been a part of our relationship since day one. Literally."

"No, Draco. Not like this," her tone suddenly took an unexpected turn; Too serious. "It's never been the way it is now. Before, they used to be petty arguments about things that, in the long run, never mattered. They used to be every once in a while. Now, though, they're everyday. Draco, when was the last time we went an entire day without either one of us snapping at the other over something? I'm tired of it."

"So, what are you saying?" He took a step back.

"I'm saying…" Aurelia inhaled a deep breath. "I'm saying that maybe we need to be away from each other for a while. To figure things out."

"Aurelia, don't say that," he shook his head fervently. "There is nothing to figure out. We're fine. We don't need to…break up."

"Draco, don't think of it that way. It's not forever. Just for a while."

"And what happens if during this…break you decide that you like it better that way? Without me?"

"I won't."

"And if you do?"

Aurelia took another deep breath. "Then, maybe, we would need to talk about making the break more permanent."

Draco took another step back, a larger one this time, leaving at least two feet of space between them. "Fine."

"Draco—"

"Let me know when you change your mind," he said and Disapparated.

Aurelia shook her head. It didn't happen the way she had hoped but it happened nonetheless. She was officially on her own now. The Malfoys were no longer an option and she guessed that it would have to stay that way. At least for now. Maybe even forever. Though this hurt her, this was what she needed. She needed to figure out if she wanted Draco.

Tommy started crying upstairs and Aurelia went to attend to him. As she sat in the rocking chair with her son in her arms, she realized that maybe everything would be okay. She was strong. Strong enough to raise a baby and lead an army into war all by herself? Maybe. She could try. The worst—or best—that could happen is she would realize that she _wasn't_, in fact, fine by herself and that she _did_ want Draco.

The hardest part of all of this would be being on her own. No Draco, no Lucius, no Narcissa, no Dillard, no Leandra, no family. Just Aurelia and Tommy. Two against the world. Just two.

Tommy fell asleep in her lap and she walked to place him in his crib. She watched his sleeping figure for a few minutes longer and smiled. She was all he needed and he was all she needed. They would be enough for each other. Mother and child. That was the way it had been since the beginning of time and that was the way it would be now.

* * *

**A/N:** Is anyone else noticing the depressing setting of this story? Ha. I think it's charming.

Reviews are appreciated :D


	5. Missing

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise**  
5. Missing

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter.  
**Author's Note:** Not an extremely important chapter but an important chapter nonetheless. Enjoy.

* * *

"What do you mean you haven't seen her since Friday morning?" Aurelia demanded. "No, _I_ haven't seen her since Friday morning. You, on the other hand, should have had her home by Sunday afternoon."

"I'm sorry but she hasn't come back yet."

Aurelia muttered something under her breath as she stalked out of the small two-bedroom flat. Some friend. How could she not know where Isabella was? If she had fallen as deathly ill as that woman had implied, wouldn't she have told her roommate? It seems logical but apparently not probable.

Maybe she was in too bad of a condition to contact her friend. Next stop: St. Mungo's. Aurelia stepped into a side alley and Apparated to the hospital. She asked the receptionist if there was an Isabella Koehl staying there. The quirky blond told her no.

Exceptionally aggravated, Aurelia almost made a side-trip to the Ministry of Magic in order to confront Teresa Flaherety but thought better of it. Instead, she settled on going to the Leaky Cauldron where she could drink ridiculous amounts of butterbeer and eat her weight in cauldron cakes.

The usual hustle-and-bustle of the pub was down to a minimum, probably due to the fact that it was the middle of the day on a Thursday. She ordered a butterbeer and a serving of cauldron cakes from the bartender, scanning the room as she waited for her food. In the far left corner sat a heavy-set man with broad shoulders, hunched over a copy of the _Daily Prophet_, coffee mug griped tight in his left hand. Another table played host to a group of teenagers that were being rather loud and obnoxious. The rest of the pub's population included a mother and her two twin boys that seemed to both be under the age of five—poor soul—, two women gossiping over coffee, a shifty-eyed man that constantly kept glancing at his watch every four seconds and a man that seemed to be in his early-twenties reading a book and sipping butterbeer.

The bartender set Aurelia's butterbeer and cauldron cakes on the counter in front of her. Tearing her gaze away from the other occupants in the room, she paid for her order and walked to claim a solitary, two-person table near the right wall. She took a seat at the table and feigned interest in a copy of _Witch Weekly Magazine _that she had produced from her pocket.

There had to be plenty of explanations for why Isabella had gone missing. If you could really call it that at all. Perhaps she had a boyfriend she was staying with or a maybe her parents. Something of the sort. Maybe getting "ill" was just her way of quitting. Not that Aurelia ever saw a reason for her to _want_ that. Then again, what did she know? She couldn't even figure out what she wanted herself.

Which brought her to her next train of thought.

This never-ending battle between her thoughts had to stop. It was such a simple to decision to make and yet, Aurelia couldn't do it. What would it take? A week? A month? A year? She doubted it would take that long. She'd be surprised if she managed to last three days without Draco, let alone a year. Then again, the whole point was to see if she _could_ last without him. She had to remind herself that she had to make it as far as she could without him. She needed to know if she wanted Draco as much as she loved him.

It was actually a silly thought. How can you be in love with someone but not want them? Was she being silly? Maybe Draco was right, fighting had been a part of their relationship since day one. Yet, it never bothered her the way it did now. So, the only explanation she had come up with was that maybe she didn't want him as much as she thought she did and the arguing was her mind's subconscious was of letting her know that. Silly, right?

Aurelia took a huge gulp of butterbeer and bit off half of her last cauldron cake. She finished the cake off and sat sipping at the rest of her drink. The decision so far seemed to be this: live as normal a life as possible for the time being and see where it takes her. Seemed reasonable…in theory. In practice, however, it was probably not so simple.

One of the twin boys across the room let out a huge whine. Aurelia realized that maybe she should be getting home to Tom so she quickly downed the last of her butterbeer and stood from her seat. She was so hasty in making her exit that she didn't notice anyone standing in her way until she crashed straight into him.

It was the twenty-something man she'd seen reading a book earlier. He was a lot taller than he had appeared while sitting down. Maybe a good six-four. He wasn't lanky and awkward, though. Far from it. He had broad shoulders, what looked like a muscular but slender build, golden-brown hair, hard-set jaw, brown eyes and flawlessly smooth, milky skin.

"Sorry," Aurelia murmured her apology.

"That's alright," he smiled, flashing a set of perfectly white teeth. His voice wasn't rough nor was it a twinkling of bells. It was somewhere in between. Very alluring. "You seem familiar."

"Do I?"

"I think I've seen you before. You work at the, er, Apothecary, right?"

"Close," she said. "The Magical Menagerie."

"Ah, my mistake," he grinned again. "Stephen Wheeler."

"Aurelia Finn," she shook his hand.

"Pleasure," he nodded once. "So, where are you off to in such a rush?"

"Heading home," she said.

"Ah, of course. I forgot people do that," he joked.

"Right," she smiled wryly. "Well, I probably should be going."

"Of course, of course," he smiled, again. "Nice meeting you."

"You as well," she said and exited through the door into the small bricked-off area leading to Diagon Alley where she Disapparated.

As the day approached twilight, Aurelia began growing anxious. Was she really prepared to handle a night on her own again? Last night had left Aurelia awaking in screaming terror. She didn't expect it to be any different the second time around. Not that she never noticed that Draco seemed to scare the nightmares away, it's just that she never embraced it too much. It was one of those things where you don't know how good you have something until you lose it.

Aurelia finally decided on spending the night with Tommy. She set up a small cot next to his crib and slid comfortably into it, hoping that he would be enough to ward off the bad dreams. Also hoping that she wouldn't wake up screaming for the fear of waking up her baby.

.

Aurelia stared at the blank, nameless faces around her. Dead? That couldn't be. She must have heard wrong. She wanted to ask again, wanted to ask the man standing in front of her to tell the truth. When she opened her mouth, the only sound that escaped was a sob. She shut her lips tight and closed her eyes, willing them all away.

_Liars_, she thought. _They're lying to me!_

She felt a hand stroke her arm but didn't care. Screwing up her face, she forced her eyes to reopen in order to find the source of the ear-piercing sound in the room. As she looked around she realized the sound was coming from her. She was screaming. Or sobbing. She couldn't tell.

She shut her eyes and clamped her mouth shut once more. This time when she reopened her eyes, the faces were gone. The nameless strangers were no longer there. She was alone in her own room this time. The vaguely familiar square room with five beds was gone along with the strangers. Someone was telling her something. She couldn't hear them. She strained her ears willing herself to listen closer.

_Liar!_ she wanted to scream when the voice's message became clear. _Liar!_

The sound came again. The screeching noise of her sobbing screams. Then there was crying. It wasn't her this time.

Aurelia opened her eyes, cold sweat dripping down her temple. Tommy was crying in his crib, no doubt awakened by Aurelia's screams. She took a deep breath and lifted herself from her cot to comfort her child. She rocked him in her arms and hushed him back to sleep. She looked outside and noticed the approaching dawn. With a yawn, Aurelia gave up any remaining thought of sleep and slipped from the room.

.

Though an uneventful day at work sounded like a reasonable way to relieve stress, Aurelia soon found that not to be the case. It actually made it worse. Sitting around behind the counter in the Magical Menagerie gave Aurelia plenty of downtime for thinking. She tried not to but when does that really work, anyway?

Leaving work, she felt more depressed than when she arrived there in the morning. Deciding that the nanny would be just fine with Tommy for an extra hour, Aurelia strolled Diagon Alley in leisure. Several time she would stop at a shop window, see something mildly interesting and continue walking. As she turned the corner into Knockturn Alley her stomach began to rumble. Remembering that she still hadn't eaten a thing all day, Aurelia retreated her steps back to Diagon Alley and headed east toward the Leaky Cauldron.

"Aurelia!" a very familiar voice called from across the room. Aurelia turned to see Pansy sitting at a table. With a very happy smile, she strolled over to join her friend.

"Fancy meeting you here," she grinned as she took a seat.

"Sure is," Pansy returned the smile. "On your own today?"

"Yeah, I just got off of work. Tommy's home with the nanny."

"Great, then you can accompany me today."

"Where are we going?" Aurelia asked.

"I just need to run a few errands. Shouldn't take long but it'll give us a chance to hang out," she said.

"Yeah, we don't do that much very often, do we?"

"Not really," she shook her head.

"Hungry?"

"Starved."

Aurelia smiled and stood up from her seat. After walking to the bar, she returned with two sandwiches and two butterbeers. She then proceeded to tell Pansy about what happened the previous night.

"You did what!" Pansy shouted.

"I told him—"

Pansy interrupted. "I can not believe you broke up with Draco!"

"Well, technically I didn't—"

"I mean, this is _Draco Malfoy_ we're talking about!"

"Yes, I kno—"

"How could you do that? I thought you loved him!"

"I do love him bu—"

"He must be heartbroken! The poor thing."

"Pansy, I didn't actua—"

"What about Lucius and Narcissa?"

"What about the—"

"They love you! They're going to be so upset!"

"I'm sure they'll understa—"

"And Tom!"

"What does he have to do wi—"

"He'll be growing up without a father…"

"Draco's not even his fa—"

"I can't believe you, Aurelia."

"Can you _please_ let me get a word in edgewise?" Aurelia said hastily before Pansy could interrupt again.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Look," Aurelia drew in a deep breath. "I told him we just needed some time to be apart while I figure things out. While we _both_ do."

"I don't understand what you could possibly need to figure out. You love him, don't you?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then, shouldn't that be enough?" Pansy asked.

"It _should_," she nodded.

"But?"

"But…it's not."

* * *

**A/N: **Yep. I had planned to get this out either last Saturday or Sunday but due to procrastination, I only finished writing it today. So, I would like to wish an_extremely _belated birthday to Professor McGonagall who celebrated 83 years on the 4th of October.


	6. Not My Cup Of Tea

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**6. Not My Cup Of Tea

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Guess what! I. Don't. Own. Harry. Potter. Surprise, huh?  
**Author's Note:** Since I can almost completely guarantee I won't be posting a new chapter by Friday or Sunday, I'd like to take this time to wish Professor Flitwick, 17 October, and Michael Gambon, 19 October, Happy Birthdays!

* * *

_Well, I've made it this far…_

_It's been exactly a week tonight that I started my life without Draco. And let me tell you, it's been a week of pure hell. I swear, I have never before in my life felt so _alone_. I have no one to be with, no one to talk to. I'm pretty sure I tried striking up a conversation with the nanny yesterday. Worst. Idea. Ever. I hope I wasn't like that at sixteen._

_Speaking of nannies, still no word from Isabella. I'm starting to worry. She's been gone for almost two weeks and no one seems to know where she is. If I didn't know any better, I'd say…never mind._

_According to Pansy, keeping a journal is a good way to cope with "emotional stress" like this so that is what I'm doing. I hope she's right because I don't feel any compensation right now. She's trying. Actually, she's convinced me to come out with her on Saturday. She told me to "dress to impress". As far as I'm concerned, people use that phrase when indicating formal attire is required. Pansy didn't say anything about formal attire. She said _muggle clothes_. Ew, I don't know who she plans to impress while wearing _those.

_I'll just need to trust her better judgement. Ha. Well, maybe this time she'll succeed in keeping my mind off of Draco. Nothing else she's tried has been successful in doing that so far so I'll give it a shot._

_I think it's time I put Tommy to bed._

_21 July, 1999_

Aurelia looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. She turned on her heel and shot Pansy a desperate look. Pansy grinned.

"I'm not wearing this," Aurelia groaned.

"Of course you are," she chirped.

"This isn't fair! Why can't I wear what you're wearing? Jeans! I can work with jeans."

Pansy frowned. "Skirts aren't exactly an option in a wheelchair."

"Oh," Aurelia said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"I know," she nodded. "Besides, you look great."

"I look like a hooker."

Pansy laughed and rolled herself out of the room. With a defeated groan, Aurelia followed. After helping Pansy into the passenger seat of her car, Aurelia planted herself behind the wheel and started the engine. It roared to life with a low hum.

"Where to?"

"Just exit out to the main road and I'll direct you from there."

The entire way, Aurelia practically begged that she change clothes. The too-mini skirt and tank top—which looked like it would fit a twelve-year-old girl much better—wasn't exactly Aurelia's outfit of choice. The stiletto heels didn't help much either.

They arrived at a dance club.

"You're joking."

"Not at all," Pansy smiled widely. Aurelia tossed her a pleading look. "Oh, just come on."

The club was obnoxiously loud. Bright flashing lights made Aurelia feel as though she were going to have a seizure at any possible moment. The music boomed so loud in her ears, she was sure she's be temporarily deaf for at least a week. And the people. So many people. They were all crowded together, dancing like a bunch of lunatics. The place smelled of sweat and alcohol.

Pansy led Aurelia through a crowd, people parting ways to let the wheelchair through. When they arrived at the bar, Aurelia looked at the numerous bottles of alcohol. None of them looked familiar. Every bottle was a different shape, size and colour.

"What can I get you ladies?" the man behind the bar said.

"Can I get a butterbeer, please?" The moment the words left Aurelia's lips, she wanted to smack herself.

"A what?"

"A beer," Pansy cut in. "She'll have a beer. Make it two."

"What kind?"

"Whatever."

The man handed them two bottles. Aurelia took a swig from hers. Not bad. She turned around to observe the people on the dance floor. She had never seen so many muggles in one place before. Was this dancing? Really? It was horrible. They were all just sort of thrashing around, looking more like they had something crawling up their pants.

"Can we go?"

"We just got here! Besides, you need a little fun."

"This, is fun?" Aurelia grimaced at the crowd. Pansy nodded and dragged her to the dance floor.

"Pansy, I don't dance like this. This isn't even dancing! What am I supposed to do?"

"Just," she paused to think. "Move with the music."

Aurelia groaned. "No, thanks. I'll just go sit by the bar and finish my bu—my beer."

"Suit yourself," Pansy shrugged, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Pansy was seriously mistaken if she expected Aurelia to come back over there. She sat back on the bar stool and relaxed with the cold drink in her hand. This wasn't helping matters at all. There were so many men in this club. Every time she looked at one, she found something that reminded her of Draco. That one had blond hair. That one had blue eyes. That one was tall. That one had a left arm.

_Ugh, get a hold of yourself, Aurelia. This isn't healthy,_ she told herself.

"Feel like joining me yet?"

Aurelia jumped. She hadn't noticed Pansy roll up. "No."

"You're being really stubborn about this."

"Pansy, this isn't the sort of thing I do. Look at these people. I am the last person you should be dragging to anything muggle related. Do you not know who I am?"

"Point taken," she bit her lip. "So, what do you suggest?"

"Can we please just go to the Leaky Cauldron and get a real drink? A butterbeer, please?"

"You know," Pansy said. "I paid money to get into here. Lots of money."

"I'll pay you back. Let's go," she said and jumped from her seat.

When they arrived to the familiar setting of the Leaky Cauldron, Aurelia practically melted in relief. She never again wanted to be so far from the magical world. Especially since it didn't help her get her mind off of Draco in the least.

"Two butterbeers," Aurelia told the bartender. When he handed her the two bottles, Aurelia reveled in the warm sensation of her drink. Muggles had no idea what they were missing. She paid him and went to sit at the table Pansy had occupied. The pub was crowded with people. Too crowded. It reminded her of the muggles. She shuddered at the thought of the loud music and blinking lights.

"See, isn't this so much better?" Aurelia smirked.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say," Pansy said.

"Hey."

Aurelia turned her head to see a man walking towards her. He looked somewhat familiar. "Do I know you?"

"Stephen," he said. "We met last week, remember?"

"Last week?" Pansy asked with raised eyebrows.

"Shut up," she snapped at her. "Yes, I remember."

"Hi," he turned to Pansy whom he had obviously not noticed before. "Stephen Wheeler."

"Yes, you are," she eyed him with a smirk. "I mean, Pansy Parkinson."

"Nice to meet you," he laughed and shook his hand. He turned back to Aurelia. "I would offer to buy you a drink but it seems you already have one."

"Seems like it," Aurelia said nonchalantly.

"Er, right," he nodded, thrown off by her response. "Well, I just wanted to say hello."

When Aurelia didn't reply he said good bye and left to sit with his group of friends. Aurelia took a sip of her drink.

"What was that!"

"What?" she looked up from her bottle.

"He was completely gorgeous!" Pansy said in disbelief.

"Really?" Aurelia looked back over at him. She got a good look at his features. Broad shoulders, muscles, golden hair, brown eyes, chiselled jaw, milky skin. Gorgeous. "Oh, he is."

"Unbelievable! Listen, if you don't want him, I'll take him."

"I beg your pardon?" Aurelia dropped her hand on the table. "What are you talking about? You don't expect me to _date_ him, do you?"

"He does."

"No!"

"Aurelia," she dropped her voice. "You're going to have to get over him eventually."

"I'm not trying to get over anybody, Pansy."

Pansy didn't reply. Instead, she held an indignant expression. Aurelia returned it.

.

_Have you ever had déjà vu? I have. It's the most bizarre sensation. It frustrates me, actually. Not being able to pinpoint exactly why something feels familiar in the oddest way but it does. You think, hasn't this happened before? And then you realize that it has! Only you can't seem to remember when or how or even why. Infuriating._

_I was sitting behind the counter at work today when a costumer comes in. Normal. He looks like your average wizard in Diagon Alley: black robes, shopping bags, exhausted expression. Normal. He asked for Doxycide, said he just bought a new house and the drapes were infested. Normal. He pays for his merchandise and bids me a good day. Normal. Before leaving, he pauses just briefly at the doorway, looks me up and down with his blue eyes, darts his gaze around the shop, looks me over once more and leaves. Not normal._

_Strange, right? I don't know why I'm looking into this. It's probably nothing. I'm sure plenty of customers have done that before, hence the déjà vu. I just got a weird feeling, that's all. Well, it's not as if it matters._

_What _does_ matter, though, is what happened when I got home today. I had only just finished dismissing the nanny when an owl swoops in with a letter. I pay the oh-so familiar bird and open the envelope. Just as I suspected, Lucius Malfoy. At first, I contemplated not reading the letter, just ignoring it. I figured it was probably something about Draco. I didn't need that on my conscience. Of course, I decided against that._

_It was so short I almost thought I was missing a page. All it said was that I come see him. That's all. One three-word sentence. "Come see me." I'm afraid to go. What if it's about Draco? Or what if Draco is there? I can't face that. It's too much. I really don't know what to do here._

_26 July, 1999_

Aurelia yawned as she removed the ugly green vest and threw it in her small cubby in the Magical Menagerie's back room. She knew she could probably get a better job somewhere but really didn't want to exert the extra energy in something that wasn't of vital importance. Stifling a second yawn, she Apparated home.

"Oh! Miss Finn, you're home early," the nanny started.

"Yes," she nodded, repressing the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious statement. "Everything alright in here?"

"Erm, yeah. Fine, Tommy's upstairs," she said. Aurelia didn't like the way her gaze shifted to the other room.

"Alright, well, you can go. I'll see you tomorrow morning," Aurelia said, waiting for her reaction.

"Oh, so soon?"

"Mhm."

"Well, you know, my shift isn't technically over," she shot a glance to her left. "I could stay if you want some time to yourself."

"No, that's alright."

"Are you sure? Maybe Tawny can draw you a bath," she suggested, casting another sideways glance at the living room.

"No, no, I'm fine."

"Oh."

"Well, goodnight."

"Right, goodnight, Miss Finn."

Aurelia stood waiting patiently. The girl finally got the hint and started walking toward the door. "Oh, and Laura?" Aurelia called back to her, the girl turned around.

"Yes, Miss Finn?"

"Take your boyfriend with you," she whispered.

Laura groaned and a boy stepped out from the living room. "Sorry," she mumbled and pushed the brown-haired, green-eyed boy out the door.

"Laura, come here. I want to have a word."

She hesitated for a moment and closed the door behind her. "Yes?"

"Look," she said in a low voice. "I don't need to lose a nanny right now. I am under enough stress as it is. When you come here, you do your job. And that job is to watch over my son and make sure he's happy and safe. I've already let the issue with the clothes slide the first time because I understand you're a teenager and what not. This, though, is teetering on the edge of a very steep cliff. I don't think you want to lose your job, Laura, do you?"

"No, ma'am."

"Good. So I suggest this doesn't happen again or I won't have a choice. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Goodnight," she finished.

"Goodnight, ma'am," Laura said and exited the building. Aurelia heard her shouting at her boyfriend outside and sighed. If only Isabella would turn up.

An owl swooped in. Aurelia groaned as she picked a letter. Same one as yesterday and the day before. _Come see me._ Aurelia simply couldn't fathom what it was Lucius wanted from her. She realized that she shouldn't keep putting it off as it might be important. Somehow, she convinced herself to doubt that and, therefore, postponing the impending visit to the place of so many memories.

Realizing she had no choice, however, Aurelia planned her trip to Malfoy Manor for the following day.

* * *

**A/N:** I bet you're excited now. Malfoy Manor. Dun, dun, dunnnnn. The new chapter will be out as soon as I can manage. Thanks for staying loyal and reading :)

Reviews are more than immensley appreciated at this point. Please! :D


	7. Visitor

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**7. Visitor

* * *

**Disclaimer:** It's _fan_ fiction. Duh.  
**Author's Note:** I actually had this typed and finished about 3 or 4 days ago. I have no idea why I didn't post it. Sorry!

* * *

_I've decided to put off going to the Malfoy's until Sunday when I don't have work. Somehow I think I'm just coming up with excuses to put off the visit. I really am not looking forward to it. I wouldn't go at all if I didn't have to. But I think it's my duty as the Dark Lord to go. Damn._

_Actually, now that I mention it, I really haven't been doing much of anything about the whole "second war" situation lately. Maybe that's not very good. Wow, was it really less than two weeks ago that I was at the Malfoy Manor, arguing with Lucius in an attempt to convince him now was a good time for that? Interesting the way time seems to move, isn't it? Hopefully time will be extremely slow these next few days. I could really use it._

_Oh, a customer._

_28 July 1999_

The two girls didn't need Aurelia's help. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She looked over at the clock and realized her shift ended in about ten minutes. So much for time going by slowly. She felt the Dark Mark on her arm sting but ignored it. Just Lucius again, as usual. He can wait a few more days. Actually, she couldn't understand why Lucius couldn't get his lazy arse over and see her instead of summoning her like a trained dog. Honestly, whatever happened to her being in charge of him?

Aurelia glanced at her watch again several minutes later. Time to go home. She went into the back room, removed her vest and Disapparated.

"Laura!" she called up the stairs. "I'm home!"

"Hello," she chirped as she descended the staircase.

"Laura, I'm going to need to ask you for a favour," Aurelia said.

"Sure."

"I know you don't work on Sundays but I need to be somewhere and I was wondering if you would mind coming in?" Aurelia asked. "I'll pay you twice your normal rate."

"Sure thing, Miss Finn," she answered.

"Thanks so much," she said. "You can go home for tonight, thanks."

Laura nodded, grabbed her coat and ran out of the house. Aurelia was walking toward the staircase when a knock came from the front door. Aurelia, thinking is was Laura coming back after she'd forgotten something, grumbled angrily as she walked back to the door. She thrust it open, expecting to find a sheepish teenage girl but instead came face to face with a middle-aged man. The thin hair atop his head was causing a decreasing hairline, matching the crows feet at the corners of his shallow brown eyes. He was shorter than Aurelia by no more than an inch or two.

"Good evening," he said politely and professionally.

"Good evening," Aurelia nearly stuttered.

"May I come in?"

"Oh! Yes, of course."

"Hello," he said again and thrust out his hand in greeting. "My name is Walter Schoen of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Er, yes?" Aurelia's heart leapt into the air, did a somersault and landed back down with a sickening crunch. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm here with your mother's will," he clarified.

"Oh," Aurelia nearly let out a deep sigh of relief. "Let's go into the sitting room."

Aurelia led the man to a comfortable arm chair facing the glass coffee table. She motioned for him to have a seat and plopped herself down on the edge of the couch. Thanking God that her heart was finally beating at a normal pace, she listened to what the man had to say.

"Now, you have a son, is this correct?" the man asked.

"Yes."

"He is Draco Malfoy's child, correct?"

"Yes," Aurelia lied.

"You and Mr. Malfoy are not married, correct?"

"No, we're not," Aurelia answered cautiously. She decided not to elaborate. Straight yes and no answers to yes or no questions. When people start explaining things that didn't require an explanation, it's obvious they're lying about _something_. So, Aurelia decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Where is Mr. Malfoy now?"

"Work, maybe?" Aurelia guessed.

"Maybe?"

"I'm not sure."

"Would there be somewhere else he could possibly be at this hour?"

"Home," she said, thinking this was obvious.

"You don't live together." It wasn't a question; Rather, an observation.

Aurelia almost winced at her mistake. "We're fighting. He's staying with his parents."

"Ah," he nodded in amusement. "Mr. Malfoy's parents, are you close with them?"

"Fairly."

"Where is your son?"

"Upstairs," Aurelia answered. Aurelia didn't see how any of these questions were relevant to her mother's will. Somehow, deep in her gut, something told her to just act normal.

"You work at the Magical Menagerie?"

"Correct," she nodded.

"Why?"

"Pardon?"

"Well, as far as I know, you received Outstanding on all of your N.E.W.Ts last year."

"That's right," Aurelia said, hoping she didn't sound too smug.

"Why such an under qualified job?"

"The baby."

"What do you mean?"

"I need a more economically friendly—if you can really call it that—job that would be easy to leave in case of emergencies."

"Understandable."

"I have a question of my own," Aurelia said.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you supposed to be here to reveal and, or hand over any contents in my mother's will?" she asked bluntly.

"Oh, yes, of course."

And so the meeting went on. Leandra didn't leave her daughter anything interesting in particular. She handed over her Gringott's vault to her husband which, according to Dillard's will, was now rightfully Aurelia's. As though Aurelia needed any more money. Leandra also gave her half of the house's ownership to Aurelia so the estate was now fully hers. Basically, the woman was as shallow as a wading pool. Nothing particularly important was in the will; It was all money and material possessions.

"Is that at all?" Aurelia asked in a bored tone when the man seemed to have finished.

"That's all," he nodded and stood from his seat. Aurelia mimicked him and began walking out of the room.

"Thank you for coming by," she said, nearing the door with the man right behind her.

"Not a problem," he looked up the staircase. "You have a very large home. I don't mean to intrude but would it be alright if you gave me a short tour?"

"No," Aurelia said rudely and opened the door for him. He exited without comment.

Aurelia shut the door, pressed her back firmly against it and let out a deep sigh. That was definitely beyond strange. What was going on here lately? Was it not enough that she no longer had Draco in her life and that she had the weight of this war on her shoulders? Why did everything else have to be so god damn difficult? Aurelia really wished people would just leave her the hell alone. Somehow, though, the world seemed determined to make her life miserable from beginning to end. With another sigh, Aurelia pushed herself away from the door and trotted up the stairs. She peaked in to Tommy's room to see him playing idly with a toy in his crib. She crossed the room in a few long strides and sat herself down in a rocking chair.

"I don't know what to do here, Tom," she spoke to her son. He wasn't paying much attention. "Tell me, am I losing it? Am I completely paranoid that everything I see around me seems dangerous? I mean, Isabella's gone to God only knows where. Am I being paranoid in thinking something is wrong with that? I'm getting weird déjà vu feelings at work nearly everyday. Am I paranoid about something there, too? Now this business with that man coming in here today and asking me all these questions. Maybe he was just curious. Am I being paranoid? Tom?"

"Mama! Up, up!" he said, stretching his hands out.

"Of course," Aurelia sighed and, smiling, picked her son up and placed him in her lap. "So, tell me, is your mum crazy?"

"Yes!" he nodded happily, obviously not aware of the question he just answered.

"I knew it," Aurelia giggled and started blowing raspberries into his stomach. Tommy giggled and laughed uncontrollably. "You know what, Tom? We're going out! I'm tired of keeping you holed up in this house. You need to get out and see the world! If I'm going to be paranoid about absolutely everything, I might as well take risks, right?"

"Yes!"

"Exactly," she smiled and stood from her seat. "Now, let's get you dressed into something a little more presentable."

Aurelia and Tom both shared something that was a mix between a shower and a bath. It didn't seem to save much time or water but Aurelia didn't care much at all. Afterwards, Aurelia herself put on midnight blue robes and dressed Tom in a brand new pair of deep red baby robes she had bought especially for going out. He looked absolutely dashing.

"Looks like we're going to be travelling the muggle way tonight," Aurelia said as she walked out to the garage and settled Tom into the back seat of her car. "I used to love driving this thing, you know."

"Car!" Tom shouted.

"Oh, dear, he's already learned muggle words," Aurelia shook her head to herself and smiled in spite of the event. She didn't seem to care at the moment whether Tom could tell the difference between a broom and a car.

"Car!" Tom repeated as Aurelia started the engine up.

"Where to, sir?" Aurelia asked, though already driving.

"Moon, mama!" Tommy laughed and Aurelia joined in.

"Wouldn't that be something!" she exclaimed in banter. "But how about just to the Leaky Cauldron tonight?"

"Yes!"

And so they drove. It took a lot longer than Aurelia would have expected. They even got lost for a short time once or twice. Once they finally arrived, though, Tommy seemed happy to have been there. It was a new place for him and, unlike most children his age, he loved new people and places. The duo stepped into the pub and were hit with raucous laughter, talking and clinking of glasses. The smell of alcohol, tea and coffee wafted up to Aurelia's nose and made it wrinkle. She proceeded to the bar, ordered a butterbeer for herself and claimed a small table, setting Tommy in a chair next to her.

"Aurelia," said a male voice just beside her chair. Aurelia looked up to see a familiar face.

* * *

**A/N:** Whoa, I don't what's wrong with me. I have no idea why these chapters are so short compared to Unexpectedly Acquainted's chapters. I think I'm losing my touch. Whatever. I have big things in store for this story. Some of you may find one of the main plot points in this story a cliché but don't worry, I have a habit of taking clichés and twisting them to be original :D


	8. Meeting At The Malfoy's

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise**  
8. Meeting At The Malfoy's

**Disclaimer:** Too bad I don't own Harry Potter.  
**Author's Note:** I wanted to clarify something. If anyone thinks the club scene in the previous chapter was lame or cliché; reread it. It was actually the exact opposite. It was more like a scene to tell fanfiction writers that witches and wizards—especially hardcore Slytherins like Draco Malfoy or Aurelia Finn—**do not go to muggle clubs. Nor do they grind to muggle music.** I just thought that needed to be said.

* * *

"Oh, it's you," Aurelia sighed.

"Very nice to see you again," Stephen said sarcastically and pulled up a chair.

"Sorry, Stephen. I just have a lot on my mind."

"That's alright, I understand. Who's this?" he smiled, his eyes falling upon Tom. "Your nephew?"

"Er…no."

"Brother?"

"Not likely," she laughed.

"I'm not following."

"This is Tommy," she said and inhaled deeply. "My son."

"Y-you-your…son?"

She smiled tentatively. "Yes, my son."

"Wow, I didn't realize you had a son," he struggled. "How old is he?"

"Nine and a half months," she said. "Approximately."

Aurelia could see the look in his eyes. She could almost sense what Stephen was thinking. Aurelia was young and pretty but she had a kid. A child of her own. He didn't know when or how this happened. He didn't know who the child's father was or what happened to him. All he knew and cared about was that Aurelia had a child. A little extra weight and responsibility. Not exactly the kind of girlfriend a twenty-one year old looks for. Aurelia sighed, sensing his premature departure.

"Listen, Aurelia," he started. _Here it comes_. "I have to leave but I'll see you around, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," she tried to smile up at him but it came out lopsided. With a final glance between Tom and Aurelia, Stephen got up from the table and left. Aurelia slumped back in her chair. "I should have seen that coming, huh Tom?

After that little incident any desire to be out and about that night was gone. Tommy and Aurelia got in the car and drove home. She didn't speak the whole way. She tried not to even think the whole way. She didn't regret having Tommy, no way. Aurelia loved him. At the same time, with Draco gone, exploring her options wouldn't be exactly simple with Tommy on her hands. She wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not.

.

_Well, this is it. I prayed for time to go by as slowly as humanly possible but, once again, it betrayed me. It's Sunday morning and I have to go to Malfoy Manor. I pray that Draco won't be there. I honestly can't take it if he is. I hope this doesn't sound childish, hiding like this from him. Honestly though, I just don't think I'd be able to physically take it if I saw him. It's bad enough I'll be in his house, talking to his father. I'll just have to do my best to ignore everything and be professional. Yeah, that's it._

_Easier said than done, I think. Well, maybe it won't be that bad. I mean, maybe I'll be able to sit there like a professional discuss whatever important issue Lucius Malfoy so desperately needs to discuss and leave without any emotional distress._

_Haha._

_1 August 1999_

Aurelia grabbed the silver knocker and banged it three times against the door. After a short moment the door opened just a small inch. A face peeked in through the crack. She wondered why they were being so cautious and who they were expecting. When the face at the door recognized Aurelia, it swung all the way open to reveal Lucius Malfoy himself. He answered his own door. That's new.

"Well, it's about time," he grunted and stepped aside to let Aurelia in.

"Excuse me but I don't recall ever allowing myself to be summoned on moment's notice, Lucius," she clipped.

"My apologies, my lord," Lucius said humbly. "It was urgent."

"You should have come see me, then. I'm not a house elf."

"Yes, my lord," he nodded. "Let's go into the sitting room. I have a few things to discuss."

"Whatever," Aurelia huffed and followed him out of the entrance hall. He ushered her toward the sofa and she grumpily took a seat, pouting angrily the whole time. Maturity is highly overrated.

"Tea?" Lucius offered; She declined. "Are you sure?"

"Lucius, quit stalling and get on with it."

"Right, sorry. Well, there is a…problem."

Aurelia leaned back comfortably in her seat. "What sort of problem?"

"Has any—"

"Father, it's not there. I checked three times."

Aurelia froze. She knew that voice.

"Draco, come on in. Have a seat," Lucius smiled. _Is he serious?!_

"Oh," he stopped dead in his tracks. His gaze lingered awkwardly on Aurelia. She had to look away. "Maybe later."

"Don't be ridiculous," Lucius said almost harshly. "Besides, this concerns you, in a way, as well."

Draco nodded and proceeded cautiously into the room. He sat on the opposite end of the couch Aurelia was currently occupying. He seemed to be trying to sit as far from her as possible. She felt him throwing nervous glances her way but did her best to ignore them. With minimal success.

"Now, Aurelia, I have a question to ask of you," he said and waited. Aurelia nodded. "Has anything strange been going on lately? Maybe some unexpected visitors, weird occurrences, that sort of thing?"

She immediately remembered the man from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He had acted so strangely, asking unrelated questions. He seemed a little too curious for Aurelia's taste. As though he was sure that she would lie about something. Not that she had much to lie about. And anyway, she was pretty much a pathological liar. It came naturally and it was damn near impossible to tell it apart from the truth. She had nothing to worry about.

"Well, there was that one man from the Ministry that came over yesterday…"

"What?" Draco exclaimed. Aurelia shot him a look of reprisal and he quickly sunk back in his seat, mouth shut tightly.

"This man," Lucius continued, ignoring the outburst. "What did he come for?"

"Well, he came to give my mother's will. Only, he kept asking very strange personal questions. Then, before he left, he asked for a tour of the house. I thought I was being paranoid but something about that wasn't exactly normal."

"No," he shook his head. "It wasn't."

"What exactly are you saying?"

"Do you remember when I told you the Ministry was watching us?" he asked. Aurelia nodded. "Well, looks like they're kicking it up a notch."

Understanding dawned. They weren't just watching her, they were _studying_ her. Learning her habits, her whereabouts, her lifestyle. They were trying to find something wrong with the way she was living, anything to prove her guilt in the wizarding world.

"I fail to understand what's giving them the right to do this!" she shouted, outraged. "Is Shacklebolt really approving this? Can he even legally do that? This is absurd!"

"Aurelia, calm down. This isn't a big deal. All we've got to do is act like we've got nothing to hide—"

"Oh, sure, except for these bright green Dark Marks on our arms!" she yelled.

"Aurelia, please," Lucius said in the same calm voice. "Be reasonable. There is nothing that they can do to prove who we are."

"So, what do you propose we do? Just sit around and go on with our happy lives while we have Ministry officials breathing down our necks, prepared to arrest us if we even sneeze wrong?" Aurelia said sourly.

"That's exactly what I expect you to do. And not just you but Pansy and Draco as well."

She looked at Draco. He was avoiding her gaze; she looked away. "It's not that easy," she said.

"It'll have to be."

"Fine," she huffed and stood up from her seat. "Is that all?"

Lucius opened his mouth to say something but shut it and settled for nodding in a half-bow. Aurelia turned away on her heel and strode from the room, practically fuming. She was so close to the front door, she almost made it out when Draco called her name. Aurelia groaned and turned to face him.

"Aurelia, are you alright?" he asked in a genuinely concerned tone.

"I'm peachy," she griped.

"I just, er, well, be careful," he said and rubbed the back of his neck. "What I mean is, don't let those guys get to you. I know it's hard now but…I—"

"Draco, can we please just not do this? It's unnecessary," Aurelia said, feeling her eyes sting. When she saw that Draco wasn't about to say much else, she turned toward the door and strode out. Out in the yard, Aurelia took a deep calming breath before Apparating home. When she got there, she broke down. She tried to hold herself together but every time she did, thoughts of him flood her mind.

He had looked so concerned for her. He looked scared for her. Aurelia had to keep reminding herself that this was for the best but no matter how many times she repeated it, she couldn't make it out to be true. Whatever logical and rational thought passed through her mind, it was pushed away and clouded by the image of Draco's face in the entryway.

And so, she bucked down and cried for all she was worth. Aurelia couldn't take him back. Not just yet. She had to live her life without him. Right at that moment, Aurelia knew she wasn't crying because she wanted him but because she loved him and it was hard for her to see him the way she did. It was hard for her to see him so frightened for her. Aurelia cried for him. She didn't cry because she wanted him and so, problem not solved. She had to keep trying.

* * *

**A/N:** Uh, yeah. I don't really have many notes for this chapter. Happy Early Halloween everyone because I probably won't be posting before then. I hope everyone will be wearing their HP costumes (I won't be because I couldn't get it. I'll be tinkerbell) but as for the rest of you, I hope you will be. So have fun and don't forget to vote for the Minister of Magic November 4th on mugglenet!

=D

**Shacklebolt for Minister!**

Lucius Malfoy is out of the running. Tear.


	9. A Date

**Difficulties **_**Will**_** Arise**  
9. A Date

* * *

**Disclaimer:** J.K Rowling owns! Except Aurelia and Tommy, of course.  
**Author's Note:** This is going to be a short chapter. Though, a lot happens in it. Needless to say, I loved writing it. It really moves the plot along. I hope you enjoy it and please try to not chop my head off. On another note, last chapter I wished you all a Happy Halloween. I hope you had a great one because I did. However, I overlooked the fact that Molly Weasley's birthday was on the 30th of October. So, happy belated birthday to her.

**"_Love is a decision_—_not an emotion."_**

**_

* * *

_**_I never thought it would be this difficult. I mean, honestly, how much can I sit around and skulk until I finally get over it? I thought it would be easier. Not easy, just easier. I guess I was terribly wrong._

_Let's just put it this way, when I came home last night, my little episode in the entrance hall didn't end there. I ended up spending the night in my room. Tommy wasn't too happy about that. Neither was Laura, actually. I owe her so much._

_Point is I spent the whole night up there and for what? To skulk some more? As if I don't do enough of that already. I think that maybe I should just give this up now. It's obviously not going anywhere. But maybe not. It wouldn't be fair to me or to him. I have no idea._

_2 August 1999  
_

Aurelia spent the entire day of work looking aimlessly through magazines. They were terribly outdated just like most things in the store were but she didn't mind them. Mindless activities kept her occupied. It's when she wasn't doing anything at all when her mind wandered free on it's own and Aurelia became preoccupied with thoughts of him. Again. And again. It was somewhat of a problem.

The biggest surprise of the day was the visitor she got at about three o' clock. It was Stephen. Aurelia never expected him there, to be perfectly honest. Their last exchange didn't leave her thinking he'd talk to her ever again. Obviously, she was wrong. At first, Aurelia thought she was seeing things, then she thought he was in the wrong place, and finally she figured he was only doing some shopping. She'd been wrong on all counts. He looked around and when his eyes landed on hers, he sauntered over to Aurelia and placed his hands firmly on the counter.

"Hello," he said in a casual tone.

Aurelia raised her eyebrows at him. "Hi?"

"I was thinking we should go somewhere," he stated.

"I'm working."

"I know," he nodded. "I meant afterwards."

This struck as her as a little odd at first. No doubt he was planning something. Really, let's think about this scenario. He was at first thinking about maybe dating Aurelia, at least according to Pansy he was. Then he was very reluctant to even be with her the moment he found out about Tommy. And now, he was asking her on a date? That didn't make much sense at all. And still, she couldn't shake the feeling that she should accept his offer. As though it were exactly what she need at that very moment.

"Sure," Aurelia said, surprised at her own quick answer. And so there it went; She was going on a date with Stephen Wheeler.

Aurelia agreed to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron at eight o'clock, declining any requests to be picked up. She was sure to tell Laura the moment she returned home that she wasn't staying. If Laura felt any sort of reluctance at being asked to stay late, she didn't show it. At less than five minutes to eight, Aurelia was ready to go, clad in navy blue robes. Saying her goodbye to Tommy, she Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron.

It didn't take long to find Stephen within the crowd. He was lounging casually at the bar in black robes, talking to the barkeeper. Aurelia felt strangely awkward walking across the floor to him. When he turned in his seat and caught her eye, Aurelia's breath caught in her throat. She was going on a date with Stephen Wheeler. Not Draco Malfoy. She was opening herself up to a new man in her life. Granted, she never expected Stephen to replaced Draco, not in a million years. However, it was still a little peculiar to stand there, looking him in the eyes with the promise of a relationship in the future. She didn't know if she wanted that; Moreover, if she was ready for it. The prospect of starting over was finally a full reality that was staring her straight in the face. Worst of all, no matter how scared it made her—afraid for her life, even—she was willing to walk straight into the situation and embrace it.

"You came," Stephen smiled as the distance between them closed.

"Of course," Aurelia nodded, a little take aback. "I said I would, didn't I?"

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Butterbeer, please."

He smiled and ordered a butterbeer from the bar. In less than a minute, he returned, handing Aurelia a frothing drink identical to his own. She thanked him as he led her over to an empty table.

"I must say, I'm a little surprised," Aurelia admitted after a short moment of silence.

"How so?"

"I didn't expect you to ask me out," she said. "Definitely not after yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"When you found out about my…son. You seemed rather hasty to leave, actually."

"I supposed it seemed that way," he nodded slowly. "I do apologize. It was just a little unexpected is all. I didn't expect you to have a…child."

"I don't look much like the type, eh?"

"Not really," he shook his head with a chuckle. "I suppose there's no telling, though, is there?"

"I suppose not," she agreed and sipped her drink.

The rest of the evening went much better than Aurelia had anticipated. In fact, she had a lovely time with Stephen, he was quite the gentleman. After they had finished their drinks at the Leaky Cauldron, they went on a leisurely stroll of the nearly-deserted Diagon Alley. There were only a few stragglers left on the boulevard that were on their way home. Aurelia recognized Astoria Greengrass with her mother and waved at them. She also noticed a man that had visited her shop earlier that day and cast him a sideways grin as he looked curiously at Aurelia with blue eyes.

She learned that, unbeknownst to either of them, Stephen and Aurelia had attended Hogwarts together for a few years. He was three years older than her and in Ravenclaw, which was the reason they never actually met. They didn't share many of the same views and opinions on anything. This made him different than Draco—though she tried not to compare him—in the fact that they didn't have much in common. It made for interesting conversation, however. At the end of the night, before Aurelia Apparated home—insisting that she needn't an escort—Stephen asked her to accompany him to dinner the following night. Aurelia had willingly accepted.

.

_Has it really been three months since I've written? I don't know where my head has been. In retrospect, I would have expected myself to write every night what with everything that's been going on but I suppose I was too wrapped up in it all. To put it simply, everything has been great. Stephen and I have been seeing each other practically every night (More often than not, nights happened to turn into mornings) and we've generally been rather content with each other. We did have a little argument last week but it didn't last longer than a day. I really just can't keep my hands off of him, honestly. He's fantastic. As a matter of fact, he's asked that we move in together! It's it wonderful?_

_Tommy has been doing great. Analise has been a big help. Analise is my new nanny. Laura went back to Hogwarts at the start of term in September so I had to find someone else to take her position. I had decided on hiring someone that didn't mind a more permanent arrangement. When I interviewed Analise Beckett, she seemed very sweet, responsible and not at all reluctant on taking up residence at the house._

_On another note, I got a letter today. It was from Lucius Malfoy. To say the truth, I'm afraid for my life on what will happen. He said he wants to meet with me. I tried to ignore his message but it had been nagging at me all day. I only just replied to it before I started writing in here. I told him he can come over on Sunday. Stephen should be moved in by then so I won't have to face him alone. Since I got his letter at work this morning, I couldn't stop thinking about what Draco had been doing these past few months._

_Whenever I was with Stephen any possible thoughts of Draco seemed impossible in comparison. Other times, when I spent time with Pansy, it was inevitable. Pansy, as my best friend, was an unwilling reminder of what I had with Draco mere moths ago. She was my link to the old life. Life at Hogwarts, life with Draco. I rarely even see her anymore. She would come over every other weekend or so. Any time our conversations started to stray onto the subject of Draco, she stopped talking abruptly and an awkward silenced followed suit._

_Tommy's first birthday in October was very fun. I threw him an extravagant party. Possibly overdone seeing as he was only a year old and probably would never remember it but I felt that he deserved it. Everyone I knew was there. All of my old friends from Hogwarts, all of the Death Eaters, everyone close to me. Except the Malfoys. I didn't invite them. An owl delivered a birthday parcel for Tommy, though. It was signed "The Malfoy Family". That was about as much interaction as I'd had with them since the last time Lucius asked to meet. Now, I guess I have to do it again._

_3 November 1999_

_

* * *

_**A/N:** I hope you all enjoyed that. Like I said, please don't chop my head off.

Election day is fast approaching. Two days left! Everyone please go to mugglenet and vote! Be sure to read both candidates' campaigns and choose wisely. I myself am voting for Hogican Kingsley Shacklebolt! So, please, don't forget to get educated about the Ministry of Magic election and vote at Mugglenet. com.

That is all. Please review, it does my heart good :)


	10. New Resident

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**10. New Resident

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I am not no JKR, if I were I probably could have persuaded the election a bit better than I did.

**Author's Note:** I am so mad right not. Hermione Fucking Granger won the election. I can not believe this. What is the world thinking?! I am so angry. I really thought Shacklebolt had this one in the bag. I really did. I would take this time to rant but I can barely put coherent thoughts together, I'm so mad. Here's chapter 10. Enjoy, I guess.

* * *

"You don't have a lot of stuff, do you?" Aurelia commented as she watched the house elves carry in Stephen's things.

"Only the bare minimum essentials, darling," he said and leaned down to kiss her, resting his hand on the small of her back.

"Well, then it's a good thing you're moving in with me and not vice versa," she joked.

"I think you're right," he smiled then looked around at the bustling slaves. "It must be so easy having house elves around to do your work for you."

"It helps," she nodded, knowing full well that her life would be hell without them.

"How does Miss want things to be put?" squeaked a house elf as it bowed in front of Aurelia. His large chocolate eyes were shining in anticipation of a command.

"We'll come upstairs and show you, Gem," Aurelia said and pulled Stephen up the stairs, with the eager house elf following closely behind. Aurelia and Stephen walked in through the open door of Aurelia's bedroom to be greeted with five other house elves, including Tawny, standing at attention, waiting to be told what to do.

"Where does Miss want things?" Tawny squeaked.

"Well, start by hanging his robes up in the closet, right next to mine," she ordered and the six little creatures all jumped to obey. "Stephen, I want to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what's up?"

"Well, we're going to be having a guest on Sunday," she said then sighed impatiently at the house elves. "No, the _other_ side. Honestly…"

"A guest?" Stephen urged on.

"Yes, a guest. He's a…business partner," she improvised.

"A business partner?" Stephen stifled a laugh. "You work at the Menagerie."

"Yes, well, it's for another kind of business. A small thing I'd been trying to get going. The Menagerie is a small, stable, side-job," she explained.

"I see," Stephen nodded. "And what, pray tell, is this business venture of yours?"

"Don't mock me," she giggled and slapped him playfully on the chest. "Be careful, Gem! You're backing up into my vase!"

"Sorry, Miss."

She turned back to Stephen. "I'd rather not tell you, anyway."

"And why not?" he inquired.

"I don't want you to get your hopes up incase it falls through," she lied, again. "So, as I was saying, he'll be coming over for tea on Sunday and I just wanted to let you know."

"So, who is this mystery man? Did I know him at Hogwarts?"

"Oh no," Aurelia laughed. "You weren't even _born_ yet when he went to Hogwarts."

"Oh?"

"I know what you're thinking," Aurelia waved a dismissive hand. "How does little old nineteen-year-old me have control over a forty-something man? Well, it's simple."

"Is it?" he chuckled. "Can't wait to hear how that can possibly be simple."

"My father had been somewhat the right-hand to the man that had been working on this, er…project before. So, since both of them are now dead, I took over the reigns. Exciting, isn't it?"

"Exciting and, yes, simple," he nodded then kissed her cheek and flinched back when her hair nearly hit his face as Aurelia whipped her head around to look at the loud clatter erupting to her right.

"Damnit, Gem!" she yelled and pulled her wand out. "_Reparo._ I told you to be careful!"

"Gem is terribly sorry, Miss," he quivered.

"Relax," Stephen cooed and lowered Aurelia's hand, which was still extended to point her wand angrily in the trembling creature's face.

"Sorry, Stephen, I lose my temper very easily with them," she said, pocketing her wand and taking deep breaths.

"It's alright," he said. "So, do I get to meet this alleged business partner?"

"Oh, definitely," she nodded. "I expect you to be in full attendance. And by that, I mean never leave my side. I really, really don't want to meet with this man. So, please, don't throw me to the basilisks on this one."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said and leaned down to kiss Aurelia on the lips. She responded eagerly and they were both left gasping for air when they finally pulled away.

"Robes are putted away, Miss," Gem announced.

"Did you clear out that drawer like I asked you?"

"Yes, Miss."

"Good, so you can put his, ahem, _bare minimum essentials_ in there," she said and flashed a smirk at Stephen.

"So, do I get to officially claim a side of the bed?" he asked as he walked over to the large king-sized mattress.

"Sure thing. You can have any side you want…so long as it's not the left one."

"Really? Well, then it's a difficult decision but I think I'll go with the right side."

"Great choice," Aurelia laughed and jumped into his lap. "This should be interesting."

"How do you figure?"

"Well," she said, pretending to ponder the thought. "You're a little fat. I don't know if we'll fit onto this bed"

"You're one to talk," he teased and tickled her side.

"Stephen! Quit!" she laughed. He finally stopped and began nuzzling her neck. "I only meant that I'm somewhat difficult to live with."

"I can adjust," he assured her and covered her lips with his.

.

Aurelia never thought it would be that easy to adjust in having someone else living with her. Stephen was an exceptionally easy person to live with. He seemed perfectly content on accepting all of Aurelia's little quirks. For example, he learned right off the bat to never disturb Aurelia when she was in her attic room—most likely the house elves had warned him—and he never complained when she got up too early to go to work. He was always home in time for dinner, which they ate together every night. Sure, it had only been a few days but Aurelia had a strong feeling that it would always continue to be this way.

At five o'clock on Saturday morning, Aurelia quietly crept out bed, trying not to disturb Stephen. She slipped into the bathroom, closed the door and turned on the shower. As soon as the cold water turned steaming hot, she stepped in. She didn't hear the door open and wasn't aware anyone was there until Stephen stepped into the shower next to her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest as the water poured down on them both. Stephen stroked her soaked hair, sensing something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Reli?" he asked.

"Fine," she nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"You seemed a little troubled last night. I didn't want to say anything but…"

"I'm fine, Stephen, really," she assured him. "I'm just a little uneasy about tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess I know why," he said.

Aurelia's eyes widened and she looked up at him. "You do?"

He nodded. "I know this man will probably remind you a lot of your father and you don't want to see him. I know it'll be hard but I promise I'll be there for you, okay?"

"Oh," she said and relief flooded her followed by grief for her father. "Thank you."

Stephen gently kissed the top of her head and let her return to her shower. As Aurelia stood alone under the hot water, she let the tears that were building up slowly trickle down along with it. She knew it wasn't at all fair to Stephen. He knew nothing of her past with the Malfoy's and she didn't plan to tell him. Now that Lucius was coming, he had no idea that she didn't want to see him because it would remind her of Draco, not her father. She felt she was deceiving him too much. There was a whole other part of her that Stephen knew nothing about. Such as the small detail that she was the Dark Lord and planned to eventually overthrow the Ministry at the cost of many, many lives.

When Aurelia had arrived at work, she pulled on her usual vest and took her place behind the counter. The amount of customers was down to a minimum as usual. When Aurelia didn't have anyone to occupy her time, she walked leisurely around the store, looking at the different animals. She briefly considered buying a cat but decided against it. During her lunch break, she deliberated going to the Leaky Cauldron but deemed herself too lazy to walk the long way. It didn't strike that she could have Apparated until she had only five minutes left of her break and it was too late.

The entire day at work went by with only five interruptions. First, was a pair of women in black robes with vibrantly bright red hair chatting excitedly about getting their niece an owl for her sixteenth birthday; they bought a crimson-feathered barn owl. The second, was a brown-haired woman and a raven-haired boy, obviously under the age of eleven since he was not at school, picking out a rat; they bought a rat with silky black fur. Third, was a middle-aged man and his wife, probably not much younger than him, dressed in elegantly tailored blue robes, both with strawberry-blond hair, looking to buy extra food for their cat; they bought three bags. The fourth, was another middle-aged man, by himself, wearing very plain black work robes, looking for rat tonic; He bought a small bottle and left with a curious glance. The fifth, was a young woman, probably in her late twenties, with brilliantly bright green eyes; She bought a new owl cage. All in all, a standard day at work.

When she arrived home, the smell of dinner wafted in from the open dining room doors. She smiled and went to join Stephen. He asked about her day at work and she told him it was boring. She asked about his and he recounted the events with enthusiasm though they weren't that exciting. They ate their dinner, talked, and laughed about random things. During dessert, as Aurelia and Stephen were engaged in a rousing debate on which Quidditch team was better, the doorbell rang. Aurelia's breath hitched and she hoped for all she was worth that Lucius had not shown up early. She excused herself from the table and went into the entrance hall.

"Good evening."

Aurelia raised her eyebrow. Thankfully, it wasn't Lucius. Somehow, she doubted whether this was better. The man was clearly not there on a social call. He looked no less like a Ministry official than a ballerina would look when wearing a tutu. His dark-brown hair was combed neatly to the side, away from his blank face. His black robes were pressed and not a single thread looked out of place.

"Good evening," Aurelia replied. "May I help you?"

"I was hoping to speak to Mr. Draco Malfoy," he said.

"He doesn't live here," she said stiffly.

"Really?" he raised his eyebrows. "You must be Miss Aurelia Finn, correct?"

"Yes."

"My apologies, ma'am," he bowed his head slightly to the side. "I was under the impression that you and Draco Malfoy shared this residence."

"Well, you were wrong, then, weren't you?" she snapped.

"I suppose so. You can see where I made my mistake, I assume. You have both been dating for a long while and you have a child so, I hope I'm correct in saying, the assumption was valid."

"Not that it's any of your business, sir," sneered. "But, Draco Malfoy and I are no longer involved."

"Oh?"

"That's right. You heard me. Now, why don't you go proclaim it all over the _Daily Prophet_? I was in the middle of dinner," she said icily.

"My apologies once more, ma'am," he said and Aurelia could see the hint of a smirk in his eyes though his face remained impassive. He nodded once and backed out of the door. Aurelia was practically fuming when she returned to the dinner table.

"Are you alright, darling?" Stephen asked.

"No," she snapped and they both fell silent. Aurelia slept in the attic that night.

* * *

**A/N:** Right, well, there was your glimpse at the Aurelia/Stephen relationship. To say the truth, I love it. I love their chemistry and everything about the two of them is just so perfect for me. I'm almost considering taking Draco completely out of the picture. Almost. Not really, though. As much as I love Stephen I will not do that, ever. So, anyway, they live together and I'm sure you can only begin to imagine what can happen with this arrangement. Also, the Ministry, as you can see, is getting persistent. It's only going to get worse, I'm afraid. As of right now, they're being discreet—of course, Aurelia isn't fooled—but it'll get much worse. Okay, enough of my rambling; You'll just have to see what happens as the story continues. I will now proceed to sit on my bed and fume about the outcome of the Ministry of Magic elections. Have a wonderful day. :)

P.S. I named Gem the house elf after this guy Gem in my 11th period Speech and Drama II class at school. I just thought I should have said that. Eventually, Julia, when you get this far in the story and sit here reading this chapter, you will laugh and probably proclaim it in the middle of class. No worries, I won't mind. :D


	11. Two's Company, Three's A Crowd

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**11. Two's Company, Three's A Crowd

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**Disclaimer:** Yesterday, I bought the rights to Harry Potter. Oh, wait, that was a dream.  
**Author's Note:** Wow! What is this, now? Three chapters in one week? I'm pretty surprised at myself. By the way, Mugglecast won the Podcast Awards in the Entertainment section! A round of applause to the best Potter Podcast on the net! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I really enjoyed writing it.

* * *

As the house elves bustled around the kitchen, preparing breakfast, Aurelia was pacing the sitting room. Stephen finally entered the room with a wide yawn. Aurelia's head shot up at the noise and her eyes widened at his appearance.

"Is _that_ what you're wearing today?" she snapped.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" he asked, looking down at his body. He was dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a blue button-up shirt.

"Muggle clothes, darling!" she chastised. "You can not wear muggle clothes today!"

"Wha—Oh! Right, sorry. I'll change."

"No, that's alright," she shook her head, hoping to clear it. "Come have breakfast first."

With a slight hesitation and a weary look, Stephen followed his girlfriend into the kitchen. The house elves were just finishing setting the table with plates, cutlery and food. Aurelia took a seat without acknowledging them and stabbed a fork into her eggs.

"Are you alright, darling? You seem…anxious."

"Do I?" she grumbled sarcastically. Stephen raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, I'm just a little unnerved."

"It's alright. It'll be fine," he assured and Aurelia gave him a weak smile.

Aurelia said nothing to Stephen through the rest of breakfast. She was too busy trying to figure out how to cope with the meeting today. What if Lucius let something slip about Draco? Stephen had no idea who Draco was to her. What if Lucius wasn't coming on business at all? What if he was visiting for Draco's sake? Aurelia knew that he would never consider doing that but all reason and logic seemed lost in her frenzied state. So, though she knew better, she was afraid that maybe this was a social call. She didn't know what Stephen would say. Maybe he wouldn't be mad. Stephen was the kind of guy that would be able to understand Aurelia's reasoning behind some of the things she did. And, then again, was it fair to say that Stephen would overlook Aurelia's deceptions? Not that she had technically done anything wrong. She hadn't lied. She just didn't tell him the full truth.

There was still the possibility to consider that maybe Lucius really was coming on business. Maybe something was wrong. Could the Ministry have found something out? Could she possibly be in danger right as she sat there contemplating? Maybe something had happened to Draco. Maybe _he_ had been found out. What if Draco was sitting in Azkaban right now? Would Lucius really wait this long to tell her? Aurelia didn't put it past him. She's known that man to do some cold-hearted things before. What if Draco wasn't in Azkaban? What if he was on the run? Or what if he was dead? What if he—

"Aurelia!" Stephen's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Aurelia snapped out of her stupor to look at Stephen. She noticed he was shaking. Not only him, but the entire kitchen was trembling. Aurelia wondered if it was an earthquake. She remembered the last time an earthquake hit. Draco had saved her life and they ended up taking refuge at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. It was the following day that they had started going out.

"Aurelia!" Stephen shouted again.

He didn't sound scared, only concerned. It was at that moment Aurelia realized it wasn't Stephen or the kitchen that was shaking, it was her. She was crying and shaking with uncontrollable sobs. She tried to pull herself together but it only made the shaking worse. She mumbled something under her breath to excuse herself from the table and sprinted to the attic. Aurelia pressed her back up against the door and tried taking deep breaths but they came out shaky and painful.

It was several hours later when Aurelia finally felt composed enough to leave the attic. She knocked lightly on her and Stephen's bedroom door. When she heard his voice faintly tell her to come in, she pushed the door open. Stephen sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. He looked up at her after she closed the door behind her.

"Aurelia?" he said, uncertain.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered and crossed the room slowly to him. "I honestly have no idea what came over me."

"Aurelia," he said and put his hand on her back as she sat down. "Maybe you shouldn't have this meeting today. Look at what's it's doing to you and he hasn't even gotten here yet."

"No, Stephen, I'm fine. I promise," she assured him.

"I'm worried about you, Reli," he said and kissed her temple. "I'm really worried."

"You don't need to be. I'm fine, really."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," she said. "Now, why don't you go change into some robes; He'll be here soon."

Aurelia was once again pacing the sitting room when the doorbell rang. Her head snapped toward the noise and she inhaled a deep breath before proceeding into the entrance hall. Waving off a house elf, Aurelia opened the door for Lucius. He stood there with an air of importance. However, his well-tailored bottle green robes, loosely tied blond ponytail and rigid posture wasn't the first thing Aurelia's noticed. What she noticed first made her breath catch in her throat and then proceed in constricting further air flow. At the door, beside his father, stood Draco Malfoy.

"Good afternoon, Aurelia," Lucius smiled. "Are you going to invite us in?"

Without tearing her eyes off of Draco, or saying a word, Aurelia stepped aside to let in the two Malfoys. They stepped inside with familiarity yet professionalism. Like two business associates who've been to the house enough times to know their way around but not enough to feel comfortable there.

"Is that him?" Stephen called from the top of the stairs as he descended towards them. Aurelia forced herself to remove her stare from Draco and looked up at him. He walked up next to Aurelia, put one hand on her waist and the other outstretched to Lucius. "Good afternoon, sir."

"Hello," Lucius said without any tone of surprise.

"Reli, darling, I didn't know we were having two guests," he commented, looking at Draco.

"Neither did I," she managed to choke out. "Stephen this is Lucius and Draco Malfoy."

"Pleasure," Stephen smiled genuinely as he shook Draco's hand. The blond returned a loathing glare.

"This is Stephen Wheeler," Aurelia said, keeping her voice low. "My—"

When Aurelia couldn't manage to finish her sentence, Lucius cut in before either young gentleman could interfere. "Let's go into the sitting room, shall we?"

Aurelia nodded and walked into the next room with Stephen at her side. She motioned for them to sit and called for a house elf to bring them their refreshments. When everyone had their drink in hand, Aurelia looked to Lucius, purposely avoiding Draco's eyes. She could feel him staring as she talked.

"So, what brings you here, Lu—Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.

"Actually, I was wondering if maybe we can discuss this in private," he asked.

"This is private," Aurelia replied.

Lucius gave her a persuasive look. "What I had in mind is, I would appreciate it if Mr. Wheeler would step out of the room for a few minutes."

"And I would appreciate it if you didn't command me, Lucius," Aurelia said icily.

"I was not commanding you, my l—," he began but Aurelia cut him off with a look. "My lady," he amended. "I was simply making a request."

"I don't mind stepping out," Stephen said quietly but Aurelia waved him off.

"I personally don't remember asking for your opinion. Stephen can stay wherever he likes. This is his home and he will not be told when to leave a room by anyone, especially you," she clipped, her teeth clenched. Draco turned to look at Aurelia with wide eyes.

"Really, darling, I don't mind," he said.

"There, see? He doesn't mind," Lucius grinned smugly.

"Stephen, darling, you don't have to go anywhere," Aurelia whispered.

"It's okay. I'll just be in the kitchen. You'll do fine," he said. With a small kiss on the cheek, Stephen excused himself and went into the kitchen.

"Don't grind your teeth, Draco, it's unhealthy," Lucius said purposefully.

Aurelia was practically fuming. "What do you want from me, Lucius?"

"Well, I had hoped to come here and discuss a few important matters," he said. "For one, this man—"

"His name is Stephen."

"Stephen," he amended. "What is he to you?"

"I beg your pardon!"

"Voice down, darling, he can hear you," Lucius drawled with false sweetness. "I only mean, maybe it isn't so wise of you to be seeing him."

"And why the hell not!" she yelled in a hushed voice.

"Did you ever wonder what the Ministry might think of this arrangement?" he whispered, casting sidelong glances at the kitchen door.

"And what business is it of theirs? My personal life is my own business. There is nothing about this to suggest I'm doing anything illegal at all," she whispered back.

"Illegal, no. Suspicious, a little," he said.

"How is that?" she exclaimed than dropped her voice back down. "My being in a new relationship hardly links back to my being a Death Eater."

"You're much more than just a Death Eater now, my lord," he said.

"That's not the point, Lucius," she replied angrily. "The point is that it is none of your business what goes on in my personal life! Nor is it the Ministry's!"

"Does he know?"

"What?" she snapped.

"Does he—Stephen—know what you are? _Who_ you are?" Lucius asked.

"No," Aurelia answered, her own bravado wavering. "Does it matter?"

"You don't think it does?" Lucius raised his eyebrows. "I think it very well does matter. How do you plan to explain to him why you'll be meeting with Death Eaters? How do you plan to explain to him why you'll be fighting on the opposing side in the war?"

"That's none of your business," Aurelia spat through clenched teeth.

"Oh, isn't it?" Lucius said. "I think it is very much my business, Aurelia. I think you need to think more about this man."

"You know what, Lucius? This has nothing to do with Stephen, does it?" she accused.

"Yes, it does. I know what you're insinuating but I'm going to ignore it and feign ignorance. If you want to continue dating this man, go ahead. If you want to continue _living_ with this man, go ahead." Aurelia saw Draco clench his fists out of the corner of her eye but ignored him. "I strongly caution you, though, Aurelia, to be careful. I urge you to realize the gravity of the situation. We both know that you can't continue living like this forever."

"That's not true," she replied. "I _can_ continue living like this forever. Whether I will or will not, is another story entirely."

"What are you saying? That you're give up?" Draco finally joined in. Both Aurelia and Lucius were surprised to hear him talk for the first time. "So, what? One minute you're practically jumping out of your seat to start this war, to go out there and fight and the next you're considering giving up? You'd rather sit at home with your _Stephen_?" he spit his name like acid. "You'd rather sit here, content with your low-class job and second-rate boyfriend while, meanwhile, we've got the Ministry breathing down our necks every day?"

"Don't you dare talk about Stephen that way!" Aurelia shouted as loud as her whispered voice allowed.

Draco ignore her and continued. "You would rather allow all the mudbloods and half-bloods out there to control everything? Our jobs, our schools, our government. Is that what you want, Aurelia? Is it?"

"I never said that!"

"No, you didn't but the intent is clear."

"You've no idea of my intentions, Draco!" she said, her voice rising above a whisper. "And, frankly, it's none of your damn business anymore! It isn't about you anymore, Draco! It's about me and my life which you're no longer a part of!"

Draco reclined his head and Aurelia winced at her own words. It was a low blow. Way below the belt. Inside, Aurelia knew this but she wouldn't dare take her words back now. Instead, she settled for glowering at him. The room fell instantly silent as Aurelia's words sunk in.

"I think it's time we left, father," Draco finally said, breaking the silence. Draco stood from his seat and Lucius followed suit. Lucius turned back to say something but seemingly decided against it and settled for striding out with a curt nod.

Once they were gone, Aurelia dropped her head into her hands and sighed. Two things happened that day which Aurelia did not expect. One, Draco showed up to her home with Lucius. She had been preparing herself all day to meet with Lucius. She had been pepping herself on how to behave and how to think in order to avoid conversation or thought to sway toward Draco. Of course, that entire plan was blown to bits as soon as the blond in question stepped over the threshold.

Second, she might have possibly uttered the worst mistake of her life. She practically told Draco that he was no longer a part of her life and that she wanted nothing to do with him. That he wasn't important. Did he think she had gotten over him? Did she think he was never on her mind anymore? It wasn't true. Aurelia didn't mean to say it. Then again, was it for the best? Would this finally put an end to it all? After all, she had Stephen in her life now and that meant there was no room for Draco. Isn't this what she wanted?

Wanted. That was when she remembered the real reason her and Draco split up. It wasn't because of a fight. It wasn't because he was the wrong man for her. It wasn't because they weren't compatible or because Draco was a terrible person. It was because she didn't know if she wanted him. She didn't know whether the love she felt for him was enough for her. That was the only reason they were no longer together. Her only goal had been to evaluate their relationship, spend some time apart and then get back together with a new found knowledge of desire for each other.

Of course, that was before she'd met Stephen. That was before she knew who Stephen was. Before she knew the good, kind-hearted man that didn't care about Aurelia's flaws, but wanted her for her. She knew now, that she loved Stephen and she _wanted_ him. In the same way she had been trying to want Draco. So, maybe the split up really had served its purpose. She realized she _didn't_ want Draco. And, instead, she found someone to fill that place. To fill it and reshape it to new dimensions. That man was Stephen.

So, then, why were her harsh words to Draco still ringing in her ears? Why was the look on his face permanently imprinted on the inside of her eyelids? Why was the mere thought of him ripping a whole in her chest? She guessed that some wounds simply took longer to heal than others. She just couldn't wait until this one was all closed up and gone with nothing but a faint scar to remind her that it once existed.

* * *

**A/N:** Like I said, I loved writing this chapter. The entire Aurelia-Malfoy exchange was just such a blast. I hope you enjoyed it, too. Feedback would be awesome. So, please, take advantage of the pretty new review button by using it! Thanks :D


	12. Methinks The Lady Doth Protest Too Much

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**12. Methinks The Lady Doth Protest Too Much

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**Disclaimer:** No.  
**Author's Note:** This is a short one. However, a lot of things happen and plus you got Chapter 11 just two days ago so I think it's a fair compromise. Enjoy.

* * *

"Draco?" Lucius asked cautiously, extending a hand towards his son. He shrugged away from his father and stormed toward the stairs. Lucius followed him but stayed several paces behind. "Do you need to talk?"

"No," Draco snapped.

"Would you like me to call your mother?" he tried again when they had reached the top of the stairs.

"No!" Draco yelled, whipping around to look at Lucius. "Sorry, no, thank you."

"I'll be in the study," Lucius murmured and took off in the opposite direction.

Instead of going into his own room, Draco walked towards Aurelia's door. He paused outside of it and almost knocked, then, remembering no one was there, walked inside. He took in his surroundings, nearly shuddering at the feeling he was getting by being there. Off-white walls, wide open window, plush caramel carpet, perfectly made bed, simply ornate wooden white furniture. Everything reminded him of her. Reminded him that she had once slept here, sometimes multiple nights at a time. Reminded him that sometimes he slept here with her. Everywhere his eyes fell, her face shot out at him, followed by her words.

He left the room, closing the door behind him. He tried not to care and not to think. He knew it wasn't possible to just forget her but he had to. There was no place for him in her life anymore. His chance was gone. So, that meant it was time to let her go and forget. Or, maybe not forget, just let go. He wanted to keep the memories.

_Wait,_ he thought. _Why should I let her go?_ It wasn't logical, really. If he loved her, shouldn't he be doing everything in his power to get her back? Sure, he could let her go because she's seemingly happy. But he knew better. He knew that she was happier when she was with him. It may not have always been rainbows and unicorns, but it was fun and it was happy.

That's it, then. He would just have to try as hard as he possibly could. He would do no matter what it takes to get her back. He knew they belonged together and he wasn't about to let some pretty-boy Ravenclaw take that away from him. He was Draco Malfoy, after all. He always got what he wanted.

.

"Did they leave already?" Stephen asked, coming back in from the kitchen.

"Yes," Aurelia whispered, still sitting shock-still on the couch.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," she managed to nod.

"Are you 'fine and I want to talk about it but I'm pretending I don't so please force it out of me' or are you 'fine and if you ask again I'll cut your privates in half'?" he asked.

"The second one," she muttered, a small grin tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Point taken," he nodded and took a seat next to her. "Do you want to see Tommy?"

"That would be nice," she said. Stephen nodded and stood up from his seat, leaving the room. Several minutes later, he came back with Tom in his hands.

"Look who's here to see mommy," he cooed.

Aurelia extended her arms out and sat him on her lap. "Hello, love."

"Mommy, I'm hungry," he groaned.

"Well, we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" she smiled and went into the kitchen for lunch.

_It's been less than three days. That's all it took for them to contact me again. Honestly, I figured they had more patience and self-control than that. I guess not. So, Lucius requests another meeting, eh? Well, I can tell him exactly where to shove it._

_But I won't because I know I have an obligation to him. Damnit. He promised he won't bring Draco in order to avoid another scene. He stressed the importance of Draco's attendance_—_guilt trips, typical Lucius_—_but promised he wouldn't be there. He said he'd talk it all over with Draco separately. I have no idea what he wants. I don't really want to know but I don't seem to have a choice._

_Well, I guess this means I'm having him over on Sunday, yet again. He won't be coming over in the morning, though. Apparently, he has "people to see about some arrangements". Whatever that means. Anyway, I'll be having drinks with him after dinner. I told him 7:30. If he comes over before that, I'm not letting him in. If he comes over after that, I'm not letting him in. If he comes over right on time…I'll think about it._

_9 November 1999_

"Remind me again; Why is he coming here?" Stephen whined for the umpteenth time.

"I don't know," Aurelia drawled lazily from behind the bathroom door. "I already told you, he didn't say what it was about. Just that it's important."

"He was here just two days ago."

"Don't remind me," she groaned as she opened the door. "I'll try to make it quick, okay?"

"I know something you shouldn't make quick," he grinned as he scanned Aurelia's body, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Aurelia giggled as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to their room. The bed squeaked as they both fell onto it. Needless to say, the noises that followed made that one shy in comparison.

.

When Aurelia came home from work on Wednesday, she found something happening she really wished she hadn't. At first, everything seemed normal. The house was quiet, the lights were on, the smell of dinner was wafting in from the open dining room. Then, she heard voices in the sitting room. They were unrecognizable. As she followed the sound, she began growing more suspicious. Without pausing to hear their conversation, Aurelia strode into the room to find three men rifling through her drawers, upturning her couch and peeking under the rug.

"What's going on here?" she demanded. All three men looked up at her. Stephen appeared at her side where he was evidently watching the scene from beside the door. He put a protective arm around her waist.

"Good afternoon, madam," one of the men said. Short, stocky, light brown hair, freckled face.

"What's going on?" she demanded again.

"House raid," stated the man looking through the sofa cushions. Short, slightly overweight, reseeding hairline, pebble-like brown eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"It's routine," the freckled-man said.

"Since when?" Aurelia exclaimed, her eyes darting to the third man still rummaging in the corner desk.

"Yesterday," the second man explained. "A new Decree in the Ministry allows unsystematic and often unprovoked house raids where necessary."

"Right," she nodded. "So, why exactly is this necessary?"

"What are you hiding, Miss Finn?" the third man finally spoke, looking up from his work.

"What? I'm not hiding anything," she said.

"Then, why are you so jumpy about this?"

"Excuse me! What are you implying?"

"Nothing, madam," he amended as one of his colleagues caught his eye with a warning look.

They searched for hours. It was after eleven o'clock when they finally left. They found nothing, naturally. Aurelia was sure to keep all of her belongings that suggested Dark Magic safely hidden. She didn't live alone anymore. What with Analise and Stephen in the house, those sort of things needed to be out of sight.

They thanked Aurelia for her cooperation before leaving. She didn't cooperate at all. She stood next to them the whole time and bitched about the entire affair. They were most likely required to say "thank you for your help" in order to be nice. It wasn't working on Aurelia. She sent them a loathing glare, which they ignored.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Stephen exclaimed after the Ministry men had gone.

"Hell should I know. Dinner?"

"Aurelia," he growled and grabbed her arm. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Of course there isn't," she lied. "I'm just as wound up about this as you are, trust me."

"Let's eat dinner," he said and let the subject drop.

* * *

**A/N:** Hmm, how fun. Ministry house raids, determined ex-boyfriends, suspicious current boyfriends. Oh, the list is endless. Anyway, the story really takes off in the next chapter. There are actually going to be a few things happening. Maybe another visit from the Ministry. Her meeting with Lucius. A shocking proposition. Some more arguments. And a very painful decision. Ohh, the suspense. See you soon, hopefully!

Oh, by the way, check out that pretty new green review button. Aren't you so tempted to just click it? You should. And then type pretty things about my story in the little box that pops up. It'll be the thrill of your life, trust me.


	13. Rum And Coke

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**13. Rum And Coke

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**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K Rowling. Also, due to my originality in name-creating becoming very thin, Thomas Marsten and Karl LeBlanc are just variations on the names Karl Marsten and Thomas LeBlanc and they belong to Kelley Armstrong.  
**Author's Note:** This chapter is a little longer. And very, very, very, very crucial to the plot. Without this chapter, there's no story. Ha, well, there's a little bit of pressure. I hope it's that good :)

* * *

If Aurelia thought that was the last she'd seen of the Ministry, she was sadly mistaken. Not two days after their previous visit, another Ministry representative was knocking on her door. She considered not answering it but thought better of it. The tall, bulky man invited himself in when Aurelia opened the door. He extended a pale, muscular hand and introduced himself as Norwood. No first name; Just Norwood. He settled onto the sitting room couch before pulling out a stack of parchment from his brown satchel.

"I have a few questions for you, Miss Finn," Norwood began.

Aurelia took a seat. "Why?"

"Wh-why? Well, because it's Ministry regulations," he stated.

"Of course it is," she mumbled bitterly.

"Reli, who are you talking to?" Stephen's voice called out from somewhere on the staircase.

"It's nothing, darling, I'll be right there," Aurelia called back then turned to Norwood. "Makes this quick."

"Your husband?" he asked, gesturing toward the open sitting room door.

"Boyfriend."

"Mr. Malfoy, correct?" he asked, quill poised above his parchment.

Aurelia's heart twisted painfully. "No, incorrect. Mr. Wheeler, Stephen Wheeler."

"Ah," he said in a tone of amusement, scribbling something down.

"Can we get on with the questions?" Aurelia said impatiently.

"Of course, of course," he nodded. "So, I understand there was a routine house check here a few days ago?"

"Not exactly what I would call routine seeing as it's never happened before but, yes, there was."

"Okay," he nodded. "Well, according to my files, the men that were here found some interesting items."

"What are you talking about?" she said, panic nearly rising in her voice. "They didn't find anything."

"Well, this says different," he stated, pointing to his notes.

"It's wrong, then," Aurelia defended.

"No worries madam, I'll look into it. So, tell me, what is your stance on Voldemort?" he asked.

Aurelia tried not to wince at the use of his name. "He's dead."

"Indeed," Norwood nodded. "Any remorse?"

"Remorse? Are you kidding? Of course not!" she lied. "It's his fault my father is dead and my best friend is paralyzed. Why would I feel any remorse?"

"Did you fight in the war last year?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I was pregnant."

"I see," he nodded again.

"Is this going somewhere, sir?" she clipped.

"Right, I'll get on with it, then. Miss Finn, are you now or were you ever a follower of Lord Voldemort?"

"Get out."

"What?" he asked, looking taken aback.

"I said, get out," she enunciated.

Norwood didn't argue. He packed up his parchments, tipped his head in an acknowledging nod and left. Aurelia was shaking with rage. She stood rooted to the spot for several minutes after he'd left. Well, the Ministry was obviously becoming blunt.

"Who was that?" Stephen asked, walking into the room. Aurelia didn't reply as she brushed past him and exited the house.

She walked for two hours in the least. Not that she was going anywhere in particular. She walked down streets, through alleyways, across yards, up hills, everywhere her legs took her. The entire situation was absurd and she surely didn't need it. Not now. Everything in her life was so stable and it was so dangerously close to being ruined. The worst part was, she had no one to turn to. She had no one to go to for advice. There was not a single person—an older, wiser person—that knew what to do and how to handle this.

After walking for a few kilometres, Aurelia stopped. She looked around, not knowing where she was. With a sigh, she prepared herself to Apparate. She spun on her heel and was sucked into blackness. When she hit the ground again, she wasn't where she expected to be. She had come to the Malfoy Manor.

At first, her brain didn't register that she was in the wrong place. When realization finally hit, hot tears singed her cheeks. Aurelia had no idea what had made her Apparate to the Malfoy's but she wasn't happy about it. Turning away from the Malfoy's wrought-iron gate, she turned once more on her heel and reappeared at her own house.

.

Aurelia stayed home from work on Saturday. Somehow, the prospect of sitting behind a counter, flipping through outdated magazines all day didn't appeal to her. Go figure. Instead, she encouraged Stephen to take the day off as well so they could spend the time together. After Apparating to the Malfoy Manor during her outburst the previous night, Aurelia needed to spend some time with Stephen; If only just to lighten her conscience.

"I hate the drapes in here," Aurelia commented when conversation became scarce.

"What's wrong with the drapes?"

"Nothing," she shook her head. "I just don't like them."

"I think they're fine," said Stephen.

"Maybe we should get red ones," she mused.

"How about blue?" he said slyly.

"Why _blue_?"

He shrugged. "Ravenclaw colour."

"In your dreams!"

"Well, you suggested red. A little Gryffindor-ish, don't you think?"

"My decision had nothing to do with House colours," she stated.

"I'm not saying it did but still…"

"I can't believe you just accused me of wanting to decorate my house in Gryffindor colours!"

"Did I say that?" he arched his eyebrows. "I don't recall saying that."

Aurelia scowled. "Fine, we'll keep the drapes."

The conversations were similar for most of the day. Aurelia and Stephen never seemed to agree on anything. She liked it that way; It was more fun. Of course, it wasn't always as trivial as drape colours. Not that it mattered. It always ended the same: One of them admits defeat and the other rubs it in their face.

As Stephen was conveniently in the kitchen, getting drinks, an owl swooped in through the open window and dropped a letter onto Aurelia's lap. It was from the Ministry. Checking to make sure Stephen wasn't coming, she opened the envelope and read.

_Dear Miss Finn,_

_We are sending this letter as a warning that future house raids will be exercised when seen fit. We will do our best to inform you of these events before-hand but we can not ensure the admonition. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience. _

_Walter Schoen_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

_Ministry of Magic_

The name rung a bell but before she could place it, Stephen walked back into the room and she stuffed the letter under the sofa cushion. Stephen handed Aurelia her drink: Rum and coke. A very interesting combination Stephen picked up at a muggle bar. Aurelia sipped her drink in silence.

"What's on your mind?" Stephen asked.

"Nothing."

"I've been thinking," he started. "About those Ministry people that were here the other day."

"Hm?"

"Well, it's just that, I mean, don't you think it was strange?"

"Of course I do." She sipped her drink.

"And? Any thoughts as to why they were here?"

She shrugged. "Not a clue. You heard them, it's routine."

"Since when, though? I haven't heard of the Ministry doing anything like this since before You-Know-Who came back to power in '96."

"It was '95," she corrected. "And I'm sure the Dark Lord has nothing at all to do with this. Maybe the Ministry—"

"I'm so sorry to interrupt, Miss," Analise called from the doorway. "Tommy has been asking for you."

"Of course, I'll be there in a moment," she said and stood from his seat, setting down her drink. "I'll be right back."

"Sure," Stephen nodded as she left.

Aurelia did her best to try avoiding the subject from being breached for the rest of the night. She returned to the sitting room a few minutes later and dove into a story about nearly getting expelled in fourth year. When she finished her drink, Aurelia pretended to be tired and went to bed. She, of course, wasn't so tired anymore once Stephen and Aurelia reached their bedroom but that's another matter entirely.

_He's coming again today. And, once again, I'm nervous. I don't know what it is about that man that makes want to jump from a third story window rather than sit through a round of drinks with him. Anyway, he should probably be here any minute it's five minutes to seven-thirty. Hopefully this will go over better than the last time. I hate to think what would happen if I had another episode like that. Maybe_—

_Show time._

_14 November 1999_

Aurelia opened the door. "Lucius." She stepped aside to let him in.

"Hello," he nodded once. Aurelia led him into the sitting room where Tawny brought them both glasses of rum and coke.

"Oh, good evening," Stephen said, walking into the room. "I hadn't realized you had arrived."

"Good evening, Mister Wheeler," Lucius acknowledged.

Stephen sat down next to Aurelia. "What are we talking about?"

Lucius opened his mouth to say something but Aurelia cut him off. "Actually, darling, you don't need to be here for this."

"I want to be," he grinned.

"It will all be pretty tedious. Just business talk," she said. "Why don't you go out and have fun tonight? Maybe your one friend wants to go out for a drink. What's his name? Le-something."

"Karl LeBlanc?" he asked.

"Yeah, him."

"Him and his wife are in France, visiting his parents," he said.

"What about your other friend…Thomas Marsten?"

"Hm, I haven't seen him in a while," he said. "Alright, if you're sure you don't need me."

"I'm sure, darling, go have fun."

"I'll be back soon," he said, kissing her quickly on the lips. "Good evening, Mister Malfoy."

"That was…interesting," Lucius said once Stephen had gone through the fireplace.

"Why?"

"I just figured another argument would ensue about getting him to leave."

"What do you want, Lucius?" Aurelia asked.

"Before I start I just want you to keep an open mind…a very open mind."

"I'm listening."

"I'm sure you've noticed that the Ministry has been getting a little, uh, anxious," he said.

"No kidding? I thought the house raids, interrogations, accusations and warning owls were just something that happens everyday. Why didn't you tell me they were getting anxious? Because I swear I wouldn't have noticed, Lucius."

"There's no need to be sarcastic, Aurelia," he said. "I'm just stating fact here. Anyway, I think that maybe you should take on a more…muggle-friendly lifestyle to get them off your back."

Her eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean 'muggle-friendly'?"

"I was thinking that you'd move out of this house and into a muggle neighbourhood. Just temporarily, of course, but at least long enough to get the Ministry to back off," he explained.

"Are you kidding me? There is no way Stephen and I are just going to pack up and move into a muggle neighbourhood."

"Actually, that's not what I had in mind," he said. "I really only meant you and Tommy."

"Excuse me?"

"We already bought a house in Ilford yesterday," he said.

Aurelia hadn't missed that. "We?"

"Draco and I." He inhaled deeply. "I had planned that you both share the house."

Aurelia stood up. "I don't believe this. This isn't about me, Tommy or the Ministry, is it? No, no, let me guess. You figured you'd stick us both in a house, force us to live together and we'd make up in a weird love story fit only for trashy romance novels. Am I close?"

"Aurelia, I assure you, I had no such thing in mind. I simply think it would be easier for both of you to stay out of trouble that way. Please, I'm asking you to consider this offer. It's not asking for much. A year, maybe less, of living a normal, muggle-style life."

"Lucius, please leave," she said and strode over to the door.

"Aurelia," he said as he stood. "Please, I'm imploring you to see reason. This is important. We're all in danger here. I'm just asking—"

"Lucius, please leave," Aurelia repeated.

"Just, think about it," he said as he headed out the door. "Aurelia, please, think about it."

.

As much as Aurelia didn't want to agree with Lucius or accept any of his requests, she did take the time to think about it. As she lay in bed, waiting for Stephen to come home, her mind was running with thoughts of moving. Leaving everything behind: her home, her work, Stephen. _No_, she told herself. _There's no reason for that. Stephen and I will be just fine together._ She couldn't help but think, though, that if she took Lucius up on his offer, she would lose Stephen. And it wouldn't be because they would drift apart or lose interest in each other. It would be because Draco would drive them apart. She knew this, yet deep down, also knew that it was complete bullshit.

So, where did this leave her decision? Stay here, happy with Stephen, Tommy, her job and her home but risk getting arrested and taken away from her life forever? Or take Tommy and leave Stephen, her job, her home and her entire life behind, possibly for good? Both choices were risky and both ended badly.

As Aurelia was thinking, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Seconds later, the bedroom door opened and Stephen walked in, smiling when he noticed Aurelia was still awake. Then, frowning, when he saw the look on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he took a seat next to her.

"Stephen, I need to talk to you about something, darling," she said.

"Sure, what is it?"

Aurelia drew in a deep breath. "I'm moving."

* * *

**A/N:** And so, the story begins. The drama shall ensue and everything will be even more messed up than usual, just wait and see. Your thoughts on this are very important to me so please leave reviews :)


	14. Elation

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**14. Elation

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I only own the plot and OC characters...  
**Warning:** Sexually explicit content  
**Author's Note:** There isn't much I can say that won't give this chapter away. I really enjoyed writing it and I'm sure you've all been waiting for this. Enjoy!

* * *

"This is it?" Aurelia scrunched up her nose, looking at the white brick town house of 42 Branch Road. "You couldn't afford anything better?"

"We're trying to be inconspicuous, Aurelia," Lucius explained.

"I hate to break it to you but muggles buy big houses everyday," she spat.

"This isn't permanent," he reminded. "Draco and I both agreed a larger house is unnecessary."

"You know, then maybe he should just live on his own," she said, her voice dripping with acid.

"Behave, please, Aurelia."

"Whatever."

"What is _he_ doing here?" came a painfully familiar voice from behind them.

"His name," Aurelia said, whipping around to face Draco. "Is Stephen and he's here to help us move in."

Draco didn't reply. He threw Stephen a look to kill and strode off to carry his things inside. The entire process of getting all the boxes, furniture and suitcases into the house took several hours. With a couple of levitation charms, it would have only taken one but magic wasn't allowed anymore.

Once everything was inside, Lucius agreed that they could, just this once, use magic to save time. Aurelia blacked out the windows and, between the four of them, the house was completely furnished within two hours.

"Anybody want a drink?" Aurelia asked.

"I think we all deserve one," Stephen chuckled. "I'll help you."

"No, I've got it," Draco volunteered. "I need to get used to this house." Without waiting for Stephen to protest, he stood up and left the room, ushering Aurelia ahead of him. Aurelia stopped halfway down the stairs and turned to look at him. He had a satisfied smirk curving his lips. Aurelia opened her mouth to say something but turned away with a huff and continued into the kitchen.

She felt Draco standing behind her as she removed glasses from the cupboard. Trying to ignore where his gaze had settled—burning holes into the back of her head—Aurelia set four glasses on the counter.

"Get me the coke, please," she said, pouring rum.

"This is going to be nice, isn't it?" Draco commented, handing her the bottle over her shoulder. "The way it's supposed to be."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, you and me living together," he whispered, wrapping his hands around her waist. Aurelia froze. His lips lowered down to her neck, his hot breath tickling the skin. "The way it's supposed to be," he repeated.

"Draco, stop," she said, pushing him away. "Don't you dare do this to me."

"Do what, darling?" he grinned.

She ignored him, finished pouring the drinks, thrust two into his hands and stormed upstairs to the sitting room. She nestled onto the couch with Stephen and tried to forget the events that took place in the kitchen.

Once everyone had finished their drinks, Stephen promised to return the following day after work, and everyone said their goodbyes, Lucius and Stephen Apparated home in the designated "Apparition Closet." The closet was nothing special, just a closed off space where no muggle could see a person appearing from thin air if they were peaking out of their windows. It also happened to be where Aurelia and Draco stored all of their magical items like spell books and potion ingredients. They guarded it with a simple locking spell, easily undone by _Alohamora_.

By ten, o'clock, Draco had already retreated to his bedroom. Aurelia, first, made a quick trip to the bathroom for a shower. Once she was washed up, she pulled on some pyjamas and headed to her room. As she walked past Draco's open door, she heard him call her name.

"Come in here for a second."

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Just come here for a moment."

Aurelia sighed and walked into Draco's room, sitting beside him on the bed. "What?"

"I just…," he trailed off. Slowly, he moved his hand to rest over Aurelia's.

"Draco—," she began.

"Shh," he cut her off. He moved his hand upward on Aurelia's arm. Once he passed her elbow, goosebumps shot up on her skin but Draco didn't seem to mind. His hands went from her shoulder, to her neck then slowly up to her cheek.

"Draco—"

"Shh," he said, pressing his thumb to her lips. "Just one second."

Aurelia started to lean into his hand but restrained herself. She closed her eyes, feeling his hand gently stroke her face. His caresses slowly lowered back down to her shoulder, her elbow, then her hand. He held her hand for a moment before Aurelia realized it was over.

"I should be getting to bed," she murmured and stood, heading for her own room.

"Aurelia," he called as she was walking out the door.

"Draco, don't," she shook her head and left. Climbing into bed, Aurelia's mind raced. She pushed all of her thoughts and emotions back, allowing a dreamless sleep to consume her.

.

The next morning, Aurelia and Draco stood motionless in their kitchen.

"What do we do?" Draco asked.

"I don't know," she shook her head. "Merlin, I wish I had taken Muggle Studies in Hogwarts."

"We'll figure this all out eventually," he said.

"How can we do that?" she exclaimed. "We can't even make something as trivial as breakfast!"

"Well," he said, crossing to the other side of the kitchen. "My father packed this regenerator thing with food."

"Refrigerator," she corrected. "Even _I_ knew that."

"Whatever," he said as he opened the door and bent over to look for something edible. "There's got to be something in here, right?" He looked up at her.

Right at that moment, a feeling surged through Aurelia. She didn't know what it was and she only recognized it from once before. It was a year ago, on a winter morning, in the Three Broomsticks Inn. She didn't know what brought it on or what it meant but she couldn't control it. In four short strides, she closed the distance between her and a very confused Draco. Before he could ask questions, she pressed her lips to his. He seemed a little dazed but it only lasted a few seconds before he returned the kiss with the same hot intensity that was emanating from Aurelia.

Aurelia's hands snaked up into Draco's hair, pulling him closer. Their lips moulded together in perfect sync. The lust radiating from them was practically tangible. Aurelia pushed Draco out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. When his foot hit the bottom step, he picked Aurelia up and carried her, legs wrapped around his waist, to his room. They collapsed on the bed, lips never breaking apart.

The need for more contact soon became unbearable and Aurelia forced herself to break their kiss for just a moment in order to remove Draco's shirt. She ran her hands up and down his bare torso in awe before he captured her lips again. Draco had to break the kiss himself for a few precious seconds to do the same. Aurelia fumbled with the buttoning on Draco's muggle jeans and he slid them off in haste, as did Aurelia with her bottoms.

Draco pulled away slowly and looked Aurelia straight in the eye. "Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded and Draco plunged into her, both of them releasing a cry of ecstasy. They moved seamlessly together. He picked up his pace and Aurelia arched her hips up to meet him. His name slipped from her lips in a repeated chant, keeping time with his movements. Draco recaptured her lips and slipped his tongue in her mouth as he worked. Moans gurgled from their throats but they didn't dare let each other go again.

When their final climax hit, they exclaimed a cry of elation and collapsed, exhausted. Draco rolled off of Aurelia and she put her head on his chest, legs intertwining. For a few long moments, they lay there panting. Then, Draco stroked Aurelia's sweat-matted hair and kissed the top of her head.

"I missed you so much," he whispered.

Aurelia lifted her head and kissed him on the lips. "I know," she whispered back.

"And I love you," he said.

Once again, Aurelia kissed him and laid her head back down. "I know."

"You used to love me, too," Draco said. Aurelia nodded. "You loved me when we broke up." She nodded again in confirmation. "You don't love me now." She didn't move, not giving an answer. He kissed her head again and let her lay on him longer.

* * *

**A/N:** Whoo! I am so happy. I loved this. It was such a joy to write. I had fun writing the next chapter, too. I'm just having fun with this in general.

On a more serious note, **Twilight in 2 days!  
**I'm so hyper about it. I can't wait. It is going to be the best day of my life. If you have not yet read the series. You must, must, must go read it right now. NOW! And then, once you finish the first book (which shouldn't take more than 2 days, anyway) you have to see the movie! Ugh, I'm so excited, I can barely stand it.

**Reviews are wonderful :)  
**


	15. Display

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**14. Display

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Harry Potter_ universe, _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, or _Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump_. It's all JKR's.**  
Warning:** Sexual Implications**  
Author's Note:** I would like so much to just spend hours talking about the _Twilight_ movie. But that's not what you all came here for. You came here for Harry Potter. So, I'll keep it short and simple. _It sucked._ It was the absolutely biggest disappointment of my entire life. Enjoy the chapter. Ugh.

* * *

Just as Aurelia and Draco were starting to drift off to sleep, Tommy's voice pierced the silence.

"Mama!" he screamed. "Mama!"

Aurelia groaned. "Looks like I have to go play mum."

Draco kissed her softly. "You stay, I'll go."

With another kiss, Draco rolled out of bed, threw his travelling cloak on over his bare body and strode from the room. Every bit of Aurelia was telling her that she needed to get out of the bed, put on some clothes and run far away. Away from Draco and away from what she just did. No matter how much she told herself this, she couldn't get up. She wasn't sure if it was just post-sex laziness or the desperate need to make the moment last for as long as she could. Whatever the reason, Aurelia wasn't going anywhere.

Moments later, Tommy's protests turned into giggles, shortly followed by silence. Draco walked back into the room and took up his previous position, this time pulling a blanket over both of them. Aurelia nestled her head back onto Draco's chest and exhaled.

"So, what happens now?" he said.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," he insisted. "What happens to us?"

"I don't know," she whispered.

"You're going back to him, aren't you?" he asked.

"I…think so," she nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I know. I can wait."

"Draco—"

"No, I know what you're going to say. That I shouldn't wait because you won't come back. That I'm wasting my time. But you came back now, didn't you? Even if just for this moment, you still came back. So, I'm not giving up until it's for good. I know you can't promise anything and I know I shouldn't expect anything but I'll keep trying. No matter what." He kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

"I know," she whispered again and fell into a light slumber.

_I…think…I'm…DELUSIONAL! What was going through my mind, I can't even begin to fathom. I slept with Draco Malfoy! What was I thinking! If Stephen ever found out about this, my life would be over. I don't know what came over me. I sort of…jumped him. Literally, I pounced on him, took him to bed, stripped down and just ravished him out of the blue! Definitely not good. Stephen should be here soon so I better get ready if I'm going to fool him into thinking I did nothing exciting today because, let me tell you, sleeping with Draco Malfoy is definitely the very opposite of dull. I hope this goes well._

_22 November 1999_

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Okay. Pretty mundane. I missed you a lot," she said, every word a lie. _It was much more than okay, very exciting and I didn't miss you at all._

"That's good," he smiled. "Do anything remotely fun?"

"Not at all," she sighed. _Except for the most fun thing I could possibly imagine._

"Did Draco give you any trouble?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"None at all," she grinned. _Only unimaginable pleasure_.

Another smile. "Good," he said. "I think we should go out to dinner. Just you and me."

"That's sounds wonderful." _Not really._

"Good, so I'll go home, change out of my work clothes into some dress robes and pick you up in an hour. Does that sound good?"

"Perfect," she agreed. Stephen went into the closet and Apparated home.

Clapping resounded from the staircase. "Bravo," Draco clapped. "I'm impressed."

"Shove off, Malfoy," she sneered.

"Ooh, not so friendly," he smirked. "Really, though, you should take up acting. That performance was superb."

She ignored him and tried to brush past him to the stairs. He held out his hand and grabbed her by the waist. "Let me go," she said.

"I don't think I want to," he smirked. "See, I don't think I want you going out tonight. I want to keep you all to myself."

"You're such a jerk," she said and pushed him off of her. "I have a date to get ready for."

Draco winced. "Whatever you say, love

Aurelia was rifling through her closet, when she heard her bedroom door open. She could see Draco standing there through her peripheral vision but she ignored him. Deciding on blue dress robes, Aurelia set them on her bed and began getting undressed. She knew Draco was still there, standing behind her but she continued to ignore him while she stripped down to her undergarments.

"Since when do I get private shows?" he said.

"Go away, Malfoy," she said, grinding her teeth.

"You and I both know you don't want me to leave," he said. Aurelia hadn't realized he crossed the room until his arms wrapped around her. "Do you?"

"Yes, I do," she said and tried to push away but her attempt was only half-hearted and he held on.

"I'm not convinced," he murmured, gently brushing his lips across her shoulder.

"Well," she said, her voice faltering. "You should be. Go away."

"I don't want to." He kissed her shoulder.

"I'm serious, Malfoy," she insisted but it sounded a little more like a moan as he trailed kisses up to her neck.

"You don't sound it," he smirked.

"Oh, bloody hell," she exclaimed, turned around and crashed her lips onto his. Draco pushed her against the wall, hands roaming her almost-naked body. Aurelia couldn't resist his touch but she knew she had to. "I can't—"

She was cut off by Draco's kiss and melted back into it. Another minute later, she remembered she was supposed to stop. With all of the will power she could summon, she pushed Draco away.

"I have to get ready," she said, gasping for breath.

"You don't have to go," he replied.

"I have to get ready."

With a groan, Draco kissed her once more, to be sure he left her breathless, and exited the room. Aurelia stood dazed with a goofy smile planted across her face. She shook her head and continued getting dressed for her date with Stephen.

.

"Did you enjoy dinner?" Stephen asked over dessert.

"It was fantastic," she smiled, taking a bite of her chocolate cake.

"Good."

"We should go somewhere else tonight," she suggested. "Maybe to the theatre."

"That sounds interesting," he agreed. "What's playing?"

"I believe 'Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump' is playing this month."

"I love that story," he smiled. "It should be nice."

Once the two had finished dessert and paid for their order, they Apparated to _The Magic Carpet Theatre_. As if by luck, they were right on time for the evening show. Stephen paid 20 galleons for their tickets and they took their seats.

During the play, Aurelia's attention wavered. She knew the story of _The Cackling Stump_ well from reading _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ when she was younger. Granted, seeing it performed live in a full-length play was a lot more interesting, but it wasn't enough to keep her attention.

Needless to say, it was Draco that ran through her mind. The thoughts were an incoherent mix, but one question pushed them all aside. She didn't know whether she wanted to tell him it should never happen again and forget it ever did or whether she should keep doing it. Sure, it sounded bad, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be done.

.

"I really wish I could stay," Stephen murmured as he kissed her.

"Then stay," she whined.

"You know I can't. Not tonight."

"Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked, running a finger lightly down his arm.

"Of course," he smiled and kissed her deeply. "I have to go."

"I love you."

Another smile. "I love you," he said and kissed her once more before stepping back into the closet and Disapparating. Aurelia sealed the door with a locking spell and leaned against it with a sigh.

"That was a very interesting display," Draco said coolly.

"It wasn't a display, Malfoy," she sneered.

"Well, it didn't look like much fun. See, if it were me, I would have stayed."

"I'm sure you would have." She rolled her eyes and walked past him up the stairs. "How was Tommy?"

"He was an absolute angel, of course," Draco smirked.

Aurelia walked all the way upstairs and stopped in front of her open bedroom door, looking at Tommy asleep in his crib. "Isn't he adorable?"

"A lot like his mum, I think," Draco murmured, wrapping his arms around Aurelia's waist.

Aurelia turned around and encircled her hands around his neck. "I think I agree," she smiled and kissed Draco gently.

"I think we should let him sleep on his own tonight," Draco suggested.

Aurelia laughed. "I think you're right."

"Oh," he smacked his forehead in mock confusion. "But then where will you sleep?"

"Hm," she pretended to ponder the thought. "Maybe I can share a bed with you. Just for tonight."

"I think that would be acceptable," he smirked and scooped Aurelia up into his arms.

He carried her back to his room and laid her on the bed then climbed atop her. Aurelia giggled as he trailed butterfly kisses across her body, slowly removing her clothes. Remembering the sleeping Tommy, Draco fished his wand out of his pocket and cast a Silencing Charm...

* * *

**A/N:** In the words of Andrew Simms, "It's sex, drugs, and Harry Potter." That's basically what these last chapters were. Well, not really drugs, but you get the point. Nevertheless, I'm sure a lot of people were happy with the Aurelia/ Draco action. I know most of you were anxiously waiting for that. The whole muggle-living thing is still developing. So is the romance and the action. It'll all unfold eventually. This story is obviously going to have more chapters than _Unexpectedly Acquainted_, but I don't think it'll be much longer. The chapters in this one are a lot shorter by comparison. I'll try to keep it reasonably short so that it doesn't get tedious. I promise excitement in the near future.

For all of you that are in the US, Happy Early Thanksgiving. And, most importantly, Happy Early Black Friday. Because, we all know, that's the day that actually matter. Haha, just kidding.

Also, the _Twilight_ movie sucked. :)

**Review!**


	16. Corpus Infracti

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**16. Corpus Infracti

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I'd like to thank a random online Latin translator...and JKR :)  
**Author's Note:** This is sort of a filler chapter, I think. My bad :) Oh, and I'd like to say Happy Birthday to Bill Weasley :)

* * *

Aurelia peeled her eyes open the next morning, praying for the sun to burn out to a black hole so she could keep sleeping. Blinking against the brightness, Aurelia took in her surroundings. It wasn't her room. The caramel coloured walls were gone. There was no window with silver curtains looking out at a billowing tree branch. The walls here were a blinding white and the sunlight seemed to be coming from a window above her head. She, then, remembered that she was no longer at the Finn Manor. Aurelia readjusted her memory to fit the description of her new "muggle room". This wasn't it either. Before panic began settling in, Aurelia felt an arm around her waist, a naked body pressed against her back, warm breath blowing on her neck, and all the events of the previous day flooded back. The panic threatened to settle again; For a different reason this time.

Trying to be as quiet and gentle as possible, Aurelia extracted herself from Draco's grasp and slipped from the room. She knew Draco would wake up and be upset at finding himself alone but Aurelia couldn't let him think that what happened yesterday was, in any way, acceptable. Being careful not wake Tom, Aurelia pulled on a pair of muggle jeans, a black t-shirt and a pair of running shoes. Leaving a note on Draco's bedroom door, Aurelia went downstairs into the Apparition Closet.

"Aurelia?" Pansy asked, rolling into the room. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to tell you something," Aurelia said.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine. Well, no. I don't know."

"I think someone needs a drink," she smiled. "Come on."

Once they each had a butterbeer in hand, Aurelia began spilling her guts. She told Pansy, in full detail, of her conversation with Lucius, his reasons for wanting her to move into a muggle neighbourhood, his suspected ulterior motives, and her involvement with Draco the previous day.

"You guys what!" she exclaimed. "Twice?!"

"Yes, Pansy," Aurelia muttered through clenched teeth.

"Oh, Merlin," she sighed, a grin spreading across her face.

"What?"

"I can't believe you and Draco are back together."

"Wait, whoa, what? Who ever said we were back together?" Aurelia put her hands out, palms forward, signalling for Pansy to back up.

"So, you're not together?"

"No!" Aurelia exclaimed.

"Well, are you getting together?"

"No, Pansy," she said. "It's not happening. I'm happy with Stephen."

"If you're so happy with Stephen then why are you finding the need to sleep with Draco?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"It's nothing to do with that!"

"Look, it's not really my business…no, wait. I'm your best friend, it is very much my business," she amended. "And, as your best friend, I'm telling you that this is wrong. Very wrong."

"I know it is," Aurelia nodded. "That's why it won't happen again. Ever."

"I wasn't talking about sleeping with Draco," she said. "I was talking about still being with Stephen instead of Draco. It's wrong, Reli."

"What!"

"Don't you dare tell me I'm not right on this, Aurelia Finn. Don't you dare."

"Well, you aren't!" she said. "Stephen and I are perfect for each other! I can not believe you would suggest otherwise!"

"Oh, please, Aurelia. Are you truly happy dating that Ravenclaw?"

"It doesn't matter what house he was in. We're not in school anymore, Pansy. Pettish house rivalries hold no bearing in the real world."

"Oh really?" Pansy raised an eyebrow. "So, you would be just fine with dating a former Gryffindor?"

"No, because I'm dating Stephen."

"Say you weren't."

"I wouldn't care," Aurelia said.

"Liar."

"Can we please just stick to the point?" said Aurelia. "I need to know what to do about this. I left him this morning. I woke up after having sex with him and I left him with a note asking him to look after Tommy while I went out. That's a little below the belt, don't you think?"

"I don't know what you want me to say," Pansy sighed. "Do you want me to tell you that he'll get over it and that he won't be hurt? I can't tell you that because it would be a lie. Do you want me to tell you that you should dump Stephen and run back to Draco with open arms? I can't tell you that either because I can see you aren't ready for that and it won't make you happy. What do you want me to say, Reli?"

"I don't know." Aurelia's shoulders sagged and she slumped back in her seat, taking a long swig of butterbeer.

"I have a physical therapy appointment in five minutes. Do you want to come with me, maybe help take your mind off of things?" Pansy suggested.

"No, I get enough muggle crap at home," she joked. "Besides, I should be getting back to straighten this out. I'm sure Draco is awake by now and the longer I make him wait, the angrier he'll get."

"Okay," Pansy nodded. "Maybe I'll pop by later."

"That sounds great," Aurelia smiled and Disapparated.

.

"Where did you go?"

Draco was sitting in the kitchen, drinking tea and eating a sandwich. Tommy was on the floor beside his feet, playing with a muggle toy car. Draco didn't look angry. In fact, he looked disturbingly calm and patient. Aurelia knew better than to take that as a good sign. It would only take one wrong answer to set him over the edge now.

"I was at Pansy's," she said. "I didn't want to wake you."

His expression softened into a genuine calm. "Oh," he said. "I made tea, would you like some?"

"Sure." Talk about awkward.

"We should do something today," Draco said. "As a family, you know?"

Aurelia nearly dropped her tea mug. "As a what? Family?"

"I don't mean for real. Just in public. You didn't think we were going to live together—with a child—and not pretend to be a family, did you?"

"I-I hadn't thought about it," she admitted.

"You hadn't? That's new."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you used to always think of everything; Always on top of things," he explained. "Remember our first mission? You basically handled it by yourself. You didn't even need me there."

Aurelia opened her mouth to protest, to tell him that if it wasn't for him being there, she would have lost her mind amongst the dementors. She decided to keep her mouth shut. Now was not the time to spill her feelings.

"I've just had a lot on my mind," she muttered.

"You don't owe me any excuses, Aurelia."

"Huh."

"So, as I was saying, we should go somewhere today," he continued.

"No, thanks," Aurelia declined. "I'm not really in the mood."

Aurelia left the kitchen at that point, leaving her unfinished tea on the counter. She opened the Apparition Closet and retrieved a few spell books. Taking them with her, she went into her bedroom, drew the curtains, locked the door and propped the books open on the bed. Aurelia searched through the books until she found an interesting spell she'd never tried before. First, she read the theoretical portion and then set to work on the practical.

"_Corpus Infracti,_" Aurelia read. "In a slow and steady manner, proving to be excruciatingly painful, _Corpus Infracti_ breaks the bones of the enemy. This curse has the power to permanently disfigure the physical appearance and structure of any living being. The term comes from the Latin root meaning…"

Deciding the rest was unimportant, Aurelia took out her wand and practiced the illustrated wand movements for the curse. It took nearly an hour of matching the wand flourish with the incantation for a small gold spark to emit from her wand, but Aurelia was quite proud of herself once it was finished. She stored the curse away in her mental arsenal, agreeing that it would probably be useful in the future.

"That sounded like something lethal," Draco drawled from the open doorway. Aurelia mentally kicked herself for not hearing him unlock the door.

"It _was_ lethal," she supplied. "Would you like me to test it on you?"

"No," he shook his head. "Keep your illegal curses to yourself. Where did you get that book, anyway?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Knockturn Alley?" he guessed.

"Duh," she rolled her eyes. "It certainly wasn't Flourish and Blotts."

"I got a book at Knockturn Alley not too long ago," Draco said, as he walked closer to Aurelia. She tensed.

"Oh?"

"It wasn't about illegal curses, though," he murmured and Aurelia knew exactly what he meant, and where this was leading. As Draco leaned down to kiss her, Aurelia sidestepped out of his way.

"I should probably take a shower," she said. Then added, "Alone."

She left before Draco could comment or protest. Jumping under the hot water, she breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have avoided that particular confrontation. Then, she groaned in annoyance at herself. She should have had the guts to tell him up front that she wanted to stop the affair. That it was a one time—two time—thing and it should never happen again. She didn't, though. And, for that, she felt like scum.

.

"Stephen, please, you have to understa—"

"Understand?! How can I possibly _understand?!_ You're lucky I'm not beating his face to a pulp right now!"

"You leave him out of this!" Aurelia yelled, trying to see past her watering eyes. "This isn't Draco's fault!"

"Oh, so it's Draco now? For as long as I've known him, you always seemed to call him Malfoy. But, then again, I guess Draco is an easier name to _scream at the top of your lungs in bed_."

"Stephen, stop! It's not like that, okay? It was once! It meant _nothing_!" Aurelia cried. "It meant nothing to me! I swear it didn't! I love you, Stephen, you! I don't love him! Hell, I don't even like him! It won't happen again, Stephen, please. It meant nothing to me. _He_ means nothing to me!" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She heard the door behind her slam and winced at the sound of it, realizing Draco had been standing behind her the whole time. Stephen shook his head in disgust and walked out of the room.

.

Aurelia awoke with a start, her face streaked with tears. She tried to shake back the images of the dream. Stephen's hurt expression, the slamming of the door behind her, the empty room mocking her self-pity. She knew it would happen exactly like that if Stephen ever did find out. Which was why he never could. She couldn't possibly have either of them if that happened. It didn't matter, though. She only wanted Stephen. Only Stephen, right? She hoped so, otherwise this would all be pretty fucked up.

And, with that cheery thought, Aurelia hauled herself out of bed. Without really making a conscious decision to do so, she stopped in front of Draco's door on the way to the bathroom. She peeked inside to see his blond head sticking out from underneath the covers. She smiled at his sleeping form before closing the door and retreating downstairs for a cup of tea.

* * *

**A/N:** The next chapter, I promise, is going to longer and actually have a point to it. Ha. No, really. Reviews are splendid :)


	17. Potion?

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**17. Potion?

* * *

**Disclaimer:** God, I wish this was mine.  
**Author's Note:** There is so much I want to talk about. I'll wait until the end of the chapter to do so, however. This chapter is actually pretty long. I was going to keep writing, but it was getting lengthy and the rest of these are fairly short. I thought it would seem a little misplaced. Also, I'm sure you're all sick of waiting. So, enjoy!

* * *

"My dad called," Draco announced, walking into the kitchen.

"Called?" Aurelia cocked an eyebrow.

Draco held up a rectangular black object with rounded edges. It seemed to be made of metal, sporting a pad of keys Aurelia recognized faintly along with a small window of glass. "He sent me a mobile phone yesterday," Draco said.

"What in fuck's name is mobile phone?" Aurelia asked, completely baffled.

"It's the same thing as that telephone we have in the sitting room upstairs, except it's smaller and doesn't have a, er, what was it—oh, it has no cord," he explained.

"Fan-bloody-tastic," Aurelia groaned sarcastically. "More muggle shit to put up with."

"He sent you one as well," he said, tossing an identical black object at Aurelia. She caught it and turned it over in her hands. "They're bloody useful."

"Draco, be it not so!" Aurelia gasped in mock-horror. "Admitting to a muggle's superiority of intelligence?"

"Certainly not," he scoffed.

"Sounded like it to me," she teased.

"Can we stick to the point?" he said, nearly flushing.

"Right, your father 'called.' So, what did he want?"

"He wanted to talk to you, actually," he said, running his fingers absently through his hair. "Well, I guess both of us, but mostly you."

"Oh, well gee, I can't possibly imagine what for," she droned sarcastically.

"In his defence, it is about time we did something," Draco supplied. "It's been a while since we've actually discussed any plans."

"Yeah? Well, we'll have to bring it up at our next book club over tea and crumpets. Jesus fucking Christ, Draco, you act like the end of the world is coming because we neglected the issue for a few months."

"I didn't say anything of the sort! I was merely suggesti—"

"Keep your opinions to yourself, Malfoy," she snapped and strode angrily from the room. Draco stood in the kitchen, utterly perplexed by Aurelia's mood swings.

The moment Aurelia made it upstairs into her room, I splitting ache set her head on fire. She clutched her temples in annoyance. _As if I need this on top of everything else,_ she thought. Aurelia walked to the bathroom and threw open the cupboard, searching for her potion. She took a swig from the blue vial, feeling a cooling sensation spread through her, the headache already disappearing. As she was replacing the bottle, she had the strange feeling something was wrong. At first, she couldn't figure out what was missing from the cupboard, but after a long while of thinking, it came to her.

"Draco!" she shrieked as loud as she could. He came running up the stairs.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Have you seen my potion that was in this cupboard?" she asked.

"Which potion?"

"The one in the violet vial," she said, exasperated.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that," he shook his head.

Aurelia's eyes widened. "Draco, what day is it?"

"Wednesday, I think," he said, completely thrown off.

Aurelia quickly calculated in her head. "Fuck," she muttered.

"Is something wrong?" Draco asked, following her as she walked past him out of the bathroom.

"Yes," she said simply and kept walking.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She didn't answer, instead kept walking down the stairs and into the Apparition Closet. Draco tried to stop her several times, but she ignored him. She threw the door to the Closet open and stepped inside. Draco tried to follow her in, but she held up a hand and shook her head. He raised his eyebrow.

"Watch Tommy," Aurelia said, closed the door and Disapparated.

.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

The Apothecary owner's assistant was a witch that was a lot taller and thinner than any woman had a right to be at her age. Aurelia guessed she was somewhere in her late eighties, but she certainly didn't look it. The flaming orange-red hair was clearly artificial and clashed horribly with her bright pink robes that shimmered and sent sparks flying at her feet with every step.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you had any Contraceptive Potion? I seemed to have, er, misplaced mine."

"Oh," the woman giggled in a way not unlike a seven-year-old would when first presented with the prospect of kissing a boy. "Well, we've actually run out and won't have anymore until next week."

"Can't you just brew one?" Aurelia asked in an irritated tone.

"Like I said, I won't have the ingredients until next week," the woman said.

"Perfect," Aurelia spat.

"Would you like an indicator potion, dear?" the woman said with a sly grin.

"I'm not pregnant!" she yelled suddenly, making the tall witch jump in the air. "Jesus."

"Sorry, love, I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's fine," Aurelia shook her head. "I'll be back next week."

She left the store, feeling much worse than she did when she arrived. A part of her wanted to have accepted the witch's offer for an indicator potion, but she wouldn't admit to herself that being off of the potion for three days made any difference. She hadn't taken her weekly dose on Sunday, but maybe some of it still lingered throughout Monday so she would have been fine with Draco. It didn't matter. She was perfectly fine.

.

"Aurelia," Draco murmured from the doorway as Aurelia was pouring herself a cup of tea, trying to calm her nerves.

"What?" she snapped.

"I figured out what's missing from your cupboard," he said, still in a quiet voice. "How long has it been?"

"Three days," Aurelia muttered, now mimicking his volume level.

"Are you—I mean, are _we_…okay?"

"I'm not sure."

He nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I know you didn't," she sighed and sat down with her tea in defeat. "I just wish I did. It's my fault. You were right, I used to always be on top of everything. I'm a mess lately."

"You've had a lot on your mind," Draco shrugged, sitting next to her at the table.

"I wish that were a good enough reason, Draco," she shook her head. "We both know it's not. It never will be. I can come up with excuses all I want, but in the end it's my fault."

"I should have asked," he tried.

"You did," she reminded him. "You asked if I was sure and I told you I was."

"Maybe we're overreacting. Maybe we're both perfectly fine," he said. "And, if it comes down to it, maybe it won't be so bad."

"Won't be so bad? What am I supposed to say to Stephen when I pop out a little blonde baby with grey eyes?"

"You mean to tell me, you would still be with him?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Of course I would!"

"Why?" he asked, completely thrown by her answer.

"Because I love him, Draco," she said. "Is that really so hard for you to understand?"

"Truthfully? Yes."

"Well, it shouldn't be."

"It is! I can't believe that you truly, honestly love this man. I just can't."

"Why?" she asked, standing up. "Is it because you don't want to believe you can be replaced in my heart or is it jealousy? Are you jealous of him, Draco? I'm sure you are. I see the way you look at the two of us together. I swear, sometimes I'm afraid you'll rip out his throat every time he touches me. I'm not yours to covet, Draco. Have you really not gotten over it yet? This isn't a fairytale; I'm not going to realize the error of my ways or my lapse in judgement or whatever else, and come running back."

"No," he shook his head. "I see the way you look at him. It's not the same way you used to look at me. I would know. There was always a certain, for lack of a better term, _sparkle_ in your eyes when you looked at me, talked to me. I felt this need to always be close to you and I know you felt it, too. There was something between us, it was almost tangible. I felt your desire, your love for me every time you were near. The look in your eyes when we were together told me anything I ever needed to know. You don't have that look when you're with him. I searched for it. Every time you looked into his eyes, I searched for that sparkle but it was never there. It gave me hope. Monday gave me hope because I saw that look then. Do not tell me you're in love with him because you are not."

Aurelia opened her mouth to protest but no words came. She tried to form words that would tell him he was wrong, but she couldn't remember how to speak. Draco stood looking at her for a few moments before a satisfactory smile came over his face. He nodded knowingly and left the kitchen. Aurelia was still trying to form sentences as he retreated out of the room.

"Fuck," she finally managed after he had left, and slumped into her chair.

.

"Draco!" she called out, holding the thing as far from her as her arms would allow, as if it might spontaneously combust.

Draco sprinted into the room. "What's wrong?"

"What the fuck is it doing?" she asked in horror.

"Oh." He looked like he was stifling a laugh. Aurelia glared. "Someone is calling you."

"Well, what do I do?"

"Answer it." She gave him a look. He added, "Press that green button."

She did. "Now what?"

"Oh, Merlin," he sighed and strode over to her. He placed one end of the phone to her ear. "Now, say hello."

"Hello?" she tried.

"Aurelia?" came Lucius' voice from inside the object. She jumped. "You there?"

"Lucius?" she said, a little wary.

"Oh, good." She heard him sigh in relief. "What are you and Draco doing tonight?"

Aurelia shrugged. "He can't see you," Draco reminded.

"Nothing," she said.

"I'm having a get-together at the Manor. Why don't you two pop by?" he suggested.

"When you say 'why don't you two pop by', you really mean we have no choice, don't you?" She cocked an eyebrow, and saw Draco smirk and roll his eyes.

"It really would be nice if you came," he said. After a pause during which Aurelia didn't reply, he sighed. "Yes, you have to be there."

"What time?" she asked, exasperated.

"Seven," he said.

"Formal?"

"Yes."

"No," she shook her head. "Lucius, please say you didn't."

"Well, they wanted to speak with you. You've barely talked to any of them since last year, and I think it'll be a good thing."

Another sigh. "Fine. We'll be there."

"One more thing," he said. "Have you acquainted yourselves with any of the neighbours?"

"Not it so many words. The woman who lives next door is always friendly. Too friendly for my taste, reminds me of a Hufflepuff."

"Good," Lucius said. "Invite her over. Ask her to watch Tommy. Let the muggles see that you're going out."

"Won't that look strange? Us walking into a closet wearing dress robes, and never coming out?" Aurelia pointed out.

"Then don't. Wear muggle formal attire, and drive over. I don't care. This is important."

"I do too much in your favour, Lucius," she groaned.

"But in your favour as well," he replied. Aurelia could hear the smirk in his voice.

"See you tonight," she said. She tossed the phone to Draco who turned it off, showing her the button he pressed to do so. "That was fairly interesting."

"My father or the phone?"

"Both, I think," she shook her head. "I don't want to go."

"It'll be fun. It's been a while."

.

"Are you sure I don't look ridiculous?" Aurelia groaned, examining herself in the mirror.

"Absolutely," Pansy beamed. "You look lovely."

The doorbell rang. "That'll be the neighbour. I don't know if I feel comfortable leaving my son with her."

"He'll be absolutely fine. The protective enchantments should be enough of a precaution. And anyway, you're never more than an Apparition away," she reminded. "I'm going to go check on Draco and get the door. See you downstairs."

Aurelia waved goodbye and turned back to the full-length mirror on her wall. She took in the sight of herself in muggle clothes. She'd worn muggles clothes a countless number of times before, but they were always casual: Jeans and a t-shirt. Clothes she just threw on for comfort. This, however, she couldn't get used to. She would have to dress in muggle clothes everyday. She thought about her mobile phone. Before that morning, she had never even heard of such a thing, and now she was using one. It wasn't just a few alterations she needed to get used to, it was a whole new life style.

She did one last once-over of herself. Her sleek hair was pulled up in pinned ringlets at the top of her head with a few loose curls framing her heart-shaped face. Her eyes were circled with striking green eye shadow, containing just a pinch of silver glitter. Her lips were plumped to perfection by shining clear gloss. A necklace consisting of a single silver chain and a jade pendant ornamented her neck. Her emerald green dress was the perfect combination of casual, serious, sexy, and formal. It started as a halter with the neckline plunging down in a dangerous 'V' to reveal her cleavage, leaving just enough to the imagination so she didn't look unprofessional. A large ribbon-band encircled her entire waist, ending in a loosely tied bow to the side. The remainder of the dress's silk fabric flowed out gracefully in a skirt, stopping just above her knees. Her attire finished with a simple pair of silver sandals on three-inch heels; Ribbons criss-crossing on her feet just above the open toes.

Aurelia sighed at herself, and left the room as she grabbed her silver evening purse from the bed. She inhaled a deep breath and went down the hall to knock on Draco's door. She knocked once and he didn't answer. She waited two minutes, then knocked again. After waiting another minute, she decided he was already downstairs.

"Aurelia?" he said behind her, opening the door. She turned around to him and she thought he started to choke. "Oh, wow. I-I-wow."

"Really?" she asked, spinning around for emphasis.

"You look-just-you-it's-wow," he finished.

"Nice to know you have an extensive vocabulary, Draco," she giggled, then mentally slapped herself. _Am I _flirting_ with him?_

"I'm sorry," he shook his head. "I'm just speechless. You look so beautiful. We should have turned into muggles ages ago."

"Well, it's nice to know it takes three hours of preparing and roughly three hundred pounds of merchandise to make me beautiful," she said sarcastically.

Draco rolled her eyes and sauntered over to her. "Love," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him. "You look stunning everyday."

"Says you," she whispered, luxuriating in the feel of his body against her own.

"It's the truth and you know it," he replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, you're right, I know it." He chuckled at her statement and she nearly melted at the smell and feel of his icy cool breath warming her skin. If that was even possible. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Says you," he murmured and pressed his lips to hers. Every fraction of her brain screamed at her to stop, but her body protested against the command and she allowed herself to kiss Draco back. She didn't stop, didn't push him away, didn't even want to let him go. When he finally did release his lock on her, she was breathless.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I know," she said.

"Are you two coming?" Pansy yelled from the landing below. Draco rolled his eyes. He took Aurelia's hand and led her downstairs.

.

Aurelia stepped out of the car onto the familiar gravel walk to the Malfoy Manor. She felt a smile tugging at her lips and couldn't help but let the grin take over. It felt wonderful to be back here with Draco and Pansy. It was as if nothing had changed. The events of the last few months hadn't occurred. She was a seventh-year girl happily in love with the man of her dreams, going to a party at his parents' house. What a ridiculous fantasy.

"You look happy," Draco commented, walking up to the front door.

"Do I?" she said. He only smiled in reply.

They walked into the house and it was just the same as it had always been. The front hall was populated by no more than five people, engaging in conversation away from bustle of the festivities. There was a loud commotion of music, laughter, and chatter coming from the ballroom. Draco looked to Aurelia, squeezed her hand reassuringly, and led her into the party. Several heads turned in their direction as they entered. It might have had something to do with the fact that they were in muggle clothes, or maybe because Aurelia was most likely the guest of honour here. Noticing everyone else's deliberate muggle attire, Aurelia was prepared to bet it was the latter.

"Aurelia! Draco!" Narcissa called lovingly as she approached. Aurelia noticed her gaze slide down to her and Draco's linked hands as an even wider smile spread across her frail features. Aurelia quickly released his hand, hoping she hadn't blushed.

"Narcissa," Aurelia replied warmly, enveloping the woman into a hug.

"I haven't seen you in so long," she smiled. "You never come by anymore."

"I've been busy, I suppose," Aurelia tried. Though Narcissa seemed completely at ease, Aurelia knew her and Draco's separation still hurt her. She tried not to look her in the eyes, afraid of what she might see there.

"Well, come, enjoy the party," she grinned. "Lucius is just over there. I'm sure he's been dying to talk to you."

Aurelia looked to where Narcissa was pointing. The bar. Lovely. "Thanks, mum," Draco said and led Aurelia through the crowd, everyone's eyes still staring.

"Hello, Draco," Lucius said monotonously without even turning around.

"Father," he acknowledged.

"And Aurelia," Lucius greeted, turning in his chair to look at her, a smirk curving his lips.

"Quite a party you've got here, Lucius," Aurelia sniffed.

"All for you, my dear."

"I'm sure it is," she rolled her eyes. "Though, I've still to figure why."

"I thought that answer would be simple." He arched an eyebrow, waiting for a response. When he didn't get one, he continued. "Some of us—well, some of them, not me—have had concerns about your isolation. They need to know someone out there is taking charge, making plans, everything of the sort. Basically, they want to know you still exist. You've been so secluded lately. Not that I blame you. It's been hard, I'm sure. However, I don't think it's fair to them. Don't you agree?"

"I fancy a drink," Aurelia mused out loud. Lucius sighed in exasperation. He threw up his hands and stalked off.

"You really shouldn't test him like that," Draco chuckled.

"Uh-hu."

* * *

**A/N:** First, I want to send Happy Birthday wishes. Rubeus Hagrid celebrated his birthday last Saturday the 6th and Charlie Weasley's birthday is tomorrow the 12th of December. Happy Birthday to them.

Next, for all of you that weren't fortunate enough to get your own copy, I'm going to rub it in your face that last Thursday, the fourth, I recieved my **_Collector's Edition_ **copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard._ It's okay to be jealous at this point :D Anyway, if you want to see detailed pictures of it all there is a link on my author's profile to my photobucket folder.

Lastly, I've never mentioned this before, but there is a series that I'm reading right now and it changed my life. It is possibly one of the greatest books I have ever read. You need to pick it up. The series is by Kelley Armstrong. I guarantee you will especially like it if you read _Twilight_. These are the books in chronological order: _Bitten, Stolen, Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted, Broken, No Humans Involved, Personal Demon, Living With the Dead_. The final book, _Frostbitten_ is coming out November 2009. Seriously, everyone needs to read this series immediately. It is simply amazing.

That is all! Thank you for reading!

Oh, one more thing: **Review!**


	18. Slightly Embarrassing Monologue

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**18. Slightly Embarrassing Monologue

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Universe of Wizards by JKR + Universe of My Imagination by me + A little literary magic (no pun intended) = FANFICTION!  
**Author's Note:** First off, Happy Holidays! I posted this on Christmas day, as I'm sure you noticed. I've been planning to post this for about three days now, but I finally got around to it now, so it's your present.  
I just send a few shout outs. Thank you to Google Earth and .uk! Without them, this story would make no sense in pertinence to the real world. So, anyway. I think we should get on with the chapter :)

* * *

Aurelia hadn't had much of an opportunity to get to know many of the Death Eaters since she joined the ranks. Now that she was their leader, she felt that it was her obligation to know exactly who each of them were. Of course, she really didn't. So, every time one of them began approaching her, Draco had to whisper their names to her in her ear.

"Antonin Dolohov. Joined ranks around 1955. One of the earliest Death Eaters. Was imprisoned in Azkaban sometime after the Dark Lord's disappearance. Escaped from Azkaban in the 1996 January break-out. Fought in the Department of Mysteries in '96. The blond attached to his arm is Victoria something-or-other; His current half-blood wannabe girlfriend. She'll be gone by the end of the week," Draco muttered quickly, nearly tripping over the words.

"Antonin, Victoria," Aurelia nodded at them once they finally approached.

"My lord," Dolohov bowed his head. "I was wondering if I can have a word?"

"Sur—"

"She's not interested, Dolohov," Draco sneered.

"Mr. Malfoy," he grinned maliciously. "A pleasure, as always."

As Draco opened his mouth to retort, Pansy rolled to them in her chair. "Lucius wants to see you, Aurelia."

"Thanks, Pansy," Draco nodded and, putting his hand on the small of Aurelia's back, led her away.

"Pansy Parkinson?" Aurelia heard Dolohov behind her. "I haven't seen you in a while. What is that interesting contraption they've got you in?"

"I'm not interested, Dolohov," she snapped, unknowingly mimicking Draco. Aurelia tried to stifle a snigger.

Lucius stood on a slightly raised platform in the front of the room. He was dressed in a simple black suit and silver tie. Aurelia was simply impressed by the way everyone at the party seemed to accomplish wearing muggle clothes and not looking like complete fools. After all, it's not as if they did this sort of thing everyday. Aurelia considered thanking Lucius for the themed party, but decided it wasn't important enough. Besides, she didn't say she ever minded being the only one wearing a dress instead of dressrobes. She would have preferred it.

"Aurelia, my dear," Lucius smiled. "Enjoying yourself?"

"If you say so," she replied noncommittally. "What did you need?"

"I was thinking maybe a dance would be appropriate. What do you think?"

"Whatever," she shrugged.

"Good," he nodded and motioned toward the dance floor. "You first."

As Aurelia's eyebrow shot up in confusion, she felt her hand being pulled toward the dance floor. The soft, melodious background music that was playing before now turned to a loud waltz. Draco took Aurelia's right hand in his left, and placed his other on her waist. Aurelia suddenly remembered the first time she had ever danced with Draco. Everything had been so different then, so easy.

"Have I told you that you look stunning tonight?" Draco whispered.

"I'm sure you mentioned it," she smiled. Draco paused as he spun her around, still holding her right hand. As she turned back to him, he grabbed her waist, pulling her closer than before.

"You look stunning," he confirmed.

"Draco, you don't have to be this way with me," she said. "In fact, I would prefer it if you weren't."

"Why?" He paused, scrutinizing her expression. "Does it confuse you? Make you want to reconsider how you feel about me, or him? I'm not trying to manipulate you, Aurelia. I'm also not going to change, or back off because I know you're making a mistake. I'm going to fight for as long as I need to."

"This isn't a game, Draco. I'm not some prize."

"How much does he know about me, or the rest of your life? Not much at all, I'll bet."

"That's not fair, Draco," she whispered. "You know I can't tell him."

"Why not?" he asked, spun her around and gripped her waist tightly again before continuing. "Afraid he won't love you anymore?"

"How dare you?" She tried to step away, but Draco held her firmly. "He would never leave me that way."

"Are you willing to bet your relationship on that?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

"I don't need to bet anything. Stephen loves me, and that wouldn't change no matter what I told him."

"You do a lot of talking, Finn." He grabbed Aurelia's waist firmly with both hands, and lifted her off the ground, turning in a half circle before setting her down. "However, I don't exactly see you doing anything about it. Afraid your hypothesis isn't so foolproof?"

"Most certainly not," she said. "I'm also quite offended that you would suggest Stephen would be so shallow as to—"

"Save it, alright?" he cut in. "I'm tired of hearing you trying to make excuses for him."

"I'm not making excuses for anyone. You're the one that's trying to make Stephen seem like the bad guy. He has never done anything to harm me, unlike you, Draco. And, I can guarantee he will always love me no matter what I tell him about my life, because that's just the type of person he is. Understanding and trusting. That's two more endearing qualities than you yourself possess."

"You think I don't trust you?" His brows furrowed in frustration and maybe slight annoyance. "Give me one instance where I have ever proven I didn't trust you. I would trust you with my life, Aurelia. As for being understanding, I have never shown you otherwise."

"You mean just like right now? The way you completely understand that I am in love with Stephen and want to be with him? The way you completely trust me to make the right decisions on my own?" she pointed out.

"It's not the same thing, Aurelia, and you know it."

"It is exactly the same thing." Aurelia had only just noticed that the music ended, simmering back to the soft piano and violin melody of before. She stepped away from Draco's grasp, and walked back to the bar with a final glare.

.

"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself," Pansy observed.

"We got in another fight," Aurelia sighed.

"Just like the good old days, huh?"

"Bite your tongue."

She sighed. "I hate seeing you like this, Aurelia. Why don't you just take him back and get it over with?"

"Because I don't want that," Aurelia exclaimed. "You're just as bad as him, Pansy."

"It isn't my fault that you are the only who can't seem to realize the mistake you're making. Everyone else knows you still love Draco. I know it, he knows it, Stephen knows, Lucius, Narcissa, everyone in this room."

"Stephen doesn't know shit," she muttered into her glass.

"So you admit it?"

"Nice try."

Another sigh. "I'm only saying that you need to think this over. Meticulously," she added.

.

Lucius had convened a meeting on Aurelia's behalf towards the end of the party. It was more like a press conference than anything. In short, everyone bombarded Aurelia with questions on her plans, her progress, her intentions, and so forth. It was easy to see that not many of them trusted her. She didn't blame them, only herself. And if any of them had any doubts that Aurelia wasn't currently doing anything to help their cause…they were right. She had gotten absolutely no further than where she was at the end of the war. She tried to improvise answers, dancing in circles around the ones they were looking for and using so many big words that, in the end, no one noticed she hadn't given them a real response. The makings of a true politician and leader.

.

She sat with Draco in the car, the radio playing softly in the background. Pansy had taken the Malfoy's fireplace home, so it was just the two of them. She wanted to say so many things to him. There were a million and one things she wanted to yell at him about, a million and two things she needed to set him straight about, and a million and three things she wished she could tell him, but wouldn't dare.

"So, that was an interesting party," Draco started.

Aurelia shot him a look. "I don't really want to talk to you right now."

"Ah, but you are talking to me just by saying that," he smirked.

"I have no comment." He opened his mouth, and she cut him off. "And don't say that that counted as a comment."

"No need to be so irritable, love."

"No?" she said, her voice raising several octaves. "I think I have every right to be irritable."

"Why do you insist on fighting with me?"

"We are not having this conversation. We are not having any conversation."

"How about a conversation on not having a conversation?" he suggested.

"You're impossible."

"Like you aren't," he scoffed.

"You bring this upon yourself, you know," she sniffed, making a dangerously speedy turn.

"Be careful!" Draco exclaimed.

"Don't worry," she muttered. "I haven't decided to kill you yet."

"Yet?"

"I'm still tossing it around in my mind."

"Are you serious?" As if for confirmation, she made another sharp right turn, knocking Draco against the car door. He decided it was wise to keep his mouth shut until he was safely out of the car.

.

"How was Tommy?" Aurelia asked, taking her shoes off by the door. "No trouble, I hope."

"Of course not. He was an absolute _angel_," the woman, Mrs. Bailey, squeaked in a singsong voice.

"Well, thanks again."

"Any time," she grinned, being practically shoved out of the door by Aurelia.

As soon as Mrs. Bailey had left, Aurelia trudged upstairs. She went to check on Tommy, who was soundly asleep in his bed. She smiled, kissed his forehead, and left the room, closing the door lightly behind her. She dared to sneak a glance down the hallway towards Draco's room, and cursed herself immediately for doing so because he was standing in his doorway, looking at her. She ignored him and walked downstairs, but she could hear him following.

"Tea?" she asked, filling the kettle.

"That would be lovely," he smiled, taking a seat at the table. He waited for her to sit down, but she didn't. She stood at the stove, waiting for the water to boil. After five minutes, the kettle began whistling, and she turned off the flame. "Go on, say it."

"Say what?" she snapped.

"Whatever it is you want to say. I know you're itching to say something to me. It's not necessarily something I want to hear, but tell me. Are you going to yell at me about Stephen some more? Maybe pick out the flaws in my character again? I'm ready for whatever you want to throw at me."

"Honey, sugar, or milk?" she asked.

"Honey."

"One or two spoons?"

"Two."

She walked to the table and set a mug down in front of him. "Here you go," she said.

"Do you want to go outside?" he suggested, blowing on his tea.

"It's cold."

"I'll bring you a cloak." He smiled a crooked smile that Aurelia couldn't possibly say no to, so she shrugged and watched his face practically light up as he went to fetch her a cloak.

"Thanks," she muttered, draping the cotton fabric over her shoulders and following him past the sliding glass door to the garden. Draco chose to sit on the swing seat, and Aurelia considered the lounger, but decided to accompany him on the two-seater.

"I'm listening," Draco said, sipping his tea.

"I'm not going to yell at you anymore, Draco," she sighed. "I don't like to argue, but sometimes you leave me no choice. I—argh!— you really get me going sometimes. Wipe that smirk off of your face, I didn't mean it like that. You just make me so angry. Sometimes, I swear I want to rip your eyes out. I don't know what it is about you. You just know exactly the right buttons to push.

"Sometimes I even feel like you _want_ to argue with me. It feels as though you like making me angry. Don't give me that look, I'm not saying it's true, it just feels like that sometimes. No matter what we do or where we go, it always has to end up in an argument. This is what ended us in the first place, Draco. It was our complete inability to get along."

"I just don't understand why it's such a bad thing," he started. "I mean, I never had a problem with it. Quite honestly, I think our relationship would have been boring if it weren't for all of the disagreements. It was your idea for us to 'take a break'. Which, by the way, wasn't supposed to be permanent. Nonetheless, I didn't want this for us. I didn't want us to be apart, at all. It was your decision. I could have talked you out of it, at least not have given up without a fight, but I didn't because I respected your wishes. Of course, now look where that got me."

"Honestly, Draco," she shook her head.

"What?"

"Well, I mean, you're only nineteen years old. You have your whole life ahead of you to find love."

He scoffed. "You don't get it, do you? I've already found love. God, I know how this sounds. I feel like I might start spouting off poetry in a minute, but that's not the point. The point is, I don't care whether I'm nineteen or ninety. I've found love, and it's for you. I don't want to—no, I _can't_—imagine life without you. It was horrible, those few months you were gone. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I kept waiting for you to come back.

"Sometimes I would dream that you came knocking at my door, falling into my arms, and saying you loved me. I would wake up and almost convince myself that it was real, until I got out of bed and realized you were never there. It hurt so much, Aurelia. It hurt more than any curse, hex, spell, or potion can make me hurt. I could endure the Cruciatus a hundred times over, and still not feel the pain I felt every morning I woke up, remembering you were gone.

"What's more is that you fell in love again. That day I came to your house and saw him there, I wanted to cry. Can you believe I'm saying this? Yes, I wanted to cry. Make fun of me all you want, but that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to weep like an 11-year-old girl who's had her favourite doll stolen. That's what it felt like. My best friend, the one person I loved the most, was stolen straight out of my arms. When you told me you loved him, I felt as though my heart would fall out of my chest.

"There is no other way I can think to describe this to you, Aurelia. You don't know what you do to me. I don't think you can possibly understand how much you affect me. Who I am, what I do, how I feel, what I think. Everything about me revolved, revolves, and will forever revolve around you. This may not be what you wanted to hear. I'm sure you think a simple 'I love you' would have sufficed, but the truth is that it wouldn't have. I'm trying to make you see how much I need you and want you. You can walk away right now, as I'm sure you have every right to do, but I'm hoping you won't. I'm hoping this big, slightly embarrassing monologue made you see a little more clearly how much you mean to me. I love you, Aurelia, and I mean it."

Aurelia stared, unblinking, at Draco. What should she say? What should she do? The wheels in her mind were spinning double-speed. Everything whirled around in a big pile of mush that made no sense. He was right, she could just walk away, but would that solve anything? Most certainly not. She could say she loved him back, but would that be the truth? She had no idea at this point. Sitting here, listening to him trying to explain his love for her made her stomach twist and flip in the strangest ways. Yet, when her mind arrived at the possibility of saying 'I love you' back to him, the first thing that popped into her mind was Stephen. Him, she knew she loved. Draco, she had no idea.

She couldn't see a third option. She could walk away, or say she feels the same. The third option definitely wasn't telling him she didn't love him because it would be the same as telling him she did. She didn't know her feelings for him. Maybe it had something to do with the confusing relationship they endured. The way they used to be, the way they broke up, they way they were now. It wasn't a feasible option. Nor was walking away. That would be sending the message that she was afraid to answer him, or she didn't know how to. While this was true, she was too proud to admit it.

Draco studied her expression, and Aurelia realized he was waiting for a response, any response other than sitting wordlessly. She tried to make her mouth form words, but nothing came out. After a few more tries, she shut her mouth and cast her eyes downward. She could see Draco nodding his head solemnly from underneath her eyelashes.

"Goodnight, Aurelia," he whispered, kissed the top of her head, and went inside.

Aurelia sighed and, dropping her cup to the floor in a shattering of ceramic shards, buried her face in her hands. She shook her head fiercely, repeatedly yelling at her mind and her body for not responding. She wished she had said something. Anything.

.

"When did this happen?" Aurelia exclaimed into her phone.

"Just this morning, I think," Lucius replied. "Or sometime early today."

"Any chance of getting closer?" she asked.

"Possibly. There is supposedly a Department meeting tomorrow morning. He said he'll try afterwards, but he can't make promises. This is very trick, very dangerous stuff."

"No kidding," she rolled her eyes. "If we get the head of the Department, we might be able to move a step or two. Maybe even have Shacklebolt himself by the end of the month."

"Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We've only gotten as far as a no-name personal in the Improper Use of Magic Office. That's not much to go on," Lucius said.

"Right, but today it's an insignificant employee, tomorrow maybe the head of the Office. Then, followed by the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And, eventually, the Minister himself. It's all a chain reaction, Lucius."

"I know," he agreed. "I just don't want us to get overexcited. I'll call you tomorrow with updates on the Department meeting."

"I'll be here," she said. Then added, "Lucius, do you know where I can maybe get a new phone? A better one?"

"I'll look into it and call you back."

"Thanks." They hung up.

.

It took about fifteen minutes for Aurelia to find the Orange store Lucius had given her the address and directions for. When she walked in, she was afraid she had stepped into some kind of hell dimension. She had seen muggle electricity and several of their little gadgets before, but it was nothing compared to this. Everywhere her eye landed on was a different mobile phone, what she learned to be a "laptop computer", and several other various gizmos. Her head was spinning when one of the sales persons approached her with a cheery greeting. She couldn't remember what she said in return, her eyes and ears were everywhere all at once.

After she finished observing everything in the shop that was shiny, she walked up to the front counter, asking for a new phone. When the man asked for specifics, she didn't have any because she knew nothing of muggle technology. She explained that she wanted something stylish, comfortable, and proper for work. He presented her with a fairly new phone called the Blackberry. It had just been released the year before, and was currently their best-seller. She took it.

It was strange that they named this phone after a fruit, but she didn't question their methods. She asked the sales clerk to get it working for her, and observed as the man took the two phones apart and put a piece of square plastic from her old phone into her new one. He declared it set and ready. She took the phone, and left the store, cursing herself for what she had done. She'd be doomed to sit around for weeks trying to figure out how to use it.

.

"What the bloody hell is it?" he asked, examining the Blackberry.

"It's new, do you like it?" she beamed.

He snorted. "Good luck figuring out how to use it."

"You're hilarious, Draco," she sniffed sarcastically. "An absolute laugh riot."

"Sarcasm is highly unnecessary, you know."

The phone rang. "Hello?"

"Aurelia? I've got some bad news and some good news. Which do you want first?" Lucius came on the line.

"Whichever order they're supposed to go in, Lucius," she sighed.

"Well, the bad news is the Department meeting for tomorrow has been cancelled." Aurelia muttered an oath, but patiently waited for the good news. "The good news is, we won't need the Department meeting because guess who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or, in our case, the right place at the perfect time."

"You're joking! Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office?"

"Yes, ma'am. And there's more good news," he added. "Guess who just so happens to have a private lunch meeting with the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement tomorrow?"

"I love life," she sighed. "This is brilliant, Lucius. Keep me updated. I'll be over there tomorrow as soon as you give word. And tell Rowle he is at the top of my good list as of right now."

"Of course, my lord," Lucius said. Aurelia could hear the smirk in his voice. "I'll see you soon, I hope."

"I hope so, too."

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**A/N:** Reviews are absolutely splendid! Also, I encourage all of you the sign up on Mugglespace! It's the myspace of HP fans, and I must say, it rocks my world. Be sure to look me up! I have a link to my mugglespace on my author profile. So, thanks for reading and please review!

P.S. Please excuse the fluff in this chapter. I felt that it was highly necessary because I have little to none of it in this story, and everyone needs a healthy dose of fluff every now and then. :)


	19. Surprises

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**19. Surprises

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**Disclaimer:** No.  
**Author's Note:** So, this is a very short chapter that took much too long to write. Want someone to blame? Blame Mugglespace Chat. I am so hopelessly addicted to that place. If you don't have a mugglespace, you need to get one this instant. It'll change your life.  
As I have told my good friend Ashlee, this chapter will make you flip a shit...twice. I'm not liable to tell you whether this will be good or bad flipping out so you'll just have to read to find out.  
A couple of delayed things that should have been said on the 31st of December: Happy New Years and Happy Birthday Dark Lord.  
Enjoy the extremely long and overdue chapter. XD

* * *

"Aurelia! Someone's at the door!" Draco called from the sitting room.

"Then go and answer it," she called back, exasperated.

"I'm changing Tommy," he protested.

Aurelia groaned, but closed her book and stood from the bed. She walked down both flights of steps to the front door. She opened it but no one was there. Then, a knock came from behind her. The closet. She opened it, and there stood a very familiar figure.

"Hello, Bella," Aurelia said, briefly embracing her.

"Nice to see you again, Aurelia," Bellatrix Lestrange said. "Is Draco around?"

"Upstairs. I'll get him," she said and ran up the staircase into the sitting room. "Bella's here."

"Bellatrix? What for?" he asked, pulling on Tommy's trousers.

"What am I? A mind reader?" she huffed. Draco rolled his eyes and, picking Tom up in his arms, followed Aurelia to the kitchen where Bellatrix was already comfortably situated.

"Is that Tommy?" she said, looking at the baby in Draco's arms. "Merlin's beard he's grown."

"Babies tend to do that," Aurelia joked.

A smile sparkled in Bellatrix's eyes, but her face remained impassive. "You'll never guess what happened today. The Head of Improper Use and the Head of Law Enforcement had they're lunch meeting. It was all very public, but in the end, a trip to the lavatory was all it took. He's ours."

"Brilliant!" Aurelia cheered. "This is brilliant!"

"Rowle can't handle it anymore. We don't have the Head of Improper Use anymore nor the other employee from before."

"That's fine," she shook her head. "Don't worry about that. I know how hard it is to keep the Imperius going strongly on more than one person at a time. The important thing is we've got him. What about the Minister? Any chance?"

"None that we know of currently."

"We'll handle it. So I suspect you didn't come all the way over here to tell me something that Lucius could have told me over the phone."

"No, actually," Bellatrix started. "I'm supposed to be taking you out of here."

"Out of here? What do you mean out of here?"

"I'm afraid to say that certain…complications may have arisen."

"What do you mean complications? What's going on?" Aurelia asked.

"The Ministry had an informant. They know about you, and they've searched your mansion. We figure it's only a matter of time before they find you here," she explained.

"No, there is no way I'm leaving," Aurelia protested. "I just got used to living here!"

"Aurelia are you serious? This is our chance to go back to our normal lives!"

"I don't want to, Draco."

"I'm afraid this is for the protection of all three of you," Bellatrix cut in.

"I'm not doing it!" Aurelia screamed. "Bella, I'm sorry. I'm not going anywhere. Everything finally got comfortable here. I-I…like it here. It's a little different. A lot, actually, but it feels like home again. This is a good place for Tom to grow up. It'll be away from the good-will pressures of the Ministry. And, frankly, I just don't want to go back. I'm not leaving."

"And when Potter and his Order find you?" Bellatrix implored.

"They won't," she said simply.

"Bellatrix, hold Tom for a minute," Draco said.

"I-uh-wait, what?" Bellatrix gave Draco a look that suggested he had just asked her to join the Order of the Phoenix.

"Just for a second! Merlin…"

He put Tom in Bellatrix's lap and, grabbing Aurelia's arm, pulled her out of the kitchen. She struggled to get away from him, but to no avail. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, and spun Aurelia to face him. He stood just inches from her, his voice low enough that they wouldn't be over heard.

"Are you out of your mind?" he demanded.

"What?"

"Why are you saying no? This is our chance. Our one-way ticket out of this muggle nightmare!" he said in a hushed voice.

"No one is stopping you, Draco. We're not a package deal. You want to go? Be my guest," she said, and gestured toward the door.

"I'm not leaving you here, Aurelia. Besides, you know you don't want me to." Aurelia mumbled something under her breath, quietly examining her multi-coloured socks. "What?"

"I said…" She raised her voice to an audible whisper. "Yes I do."

"You…want…me…to leave?" he asked, looking a little puzzled.

"Yes."

.

_He's gone. Once again, it's just Tommy and me. Ugh, that's ridiculous. Stephen threw a fit when I told him Draco left. It took about ten minutes for me convince Stephen that I told him to go and he didn't just up and leave out of no where. I don't think he's Draco's biggest fan at the moment. He really has no idea how much better it is for both of us that Draco's gone. It was getting to be very, very hard with him around._

_I'm happy about this. It'll be a good thing. Maybe I'll ask Stephen to move in with me again. That would be nice, we didn't get to spend a lot of time living together. Yeah…_

_27 November 1999_

"Are you sure about this?"

"I'm positive, Lucius," she assured him. "I'll be perfectly fine here."

"Maybe Draco…"

"I'm fine, Lucius. Let it go," she said sternly. "I have to go, there's someone at the door."

With that, she ended the call and stuffed her phone into her pocket. Aurelia sighed and opened the closet door to find Stephen standing there. He was wearing black dress pants, a white button up shirt, and a pale blue tie.

"Fuck," Aurelia muttered, looking down at her casual sweats. "I completely forgot Stephen. I have had so much to deal with. Give me, like, half an hour."

"Sure," he chuckled. "Go on, we've got some time."

She thanked him with a quick kiss, and sprinted upstairs. As she was throwing her clothes on the bathroom floor, she heard the doorbell ring. Babysitter. Deciding Stephen was perfectly capable of dealing with Mrs. Bailey, she jumped into one of the quickest showers of her life. Half an hour later, she was ready to go in the timeless little-black-dress ensemble.

.

Stephen took them to a restaurant that looked like it cost him two months of overtime at work. Everything was very quaint. The place consisted of little two-person tables with white table cloth and centrepieces, and a fountain sitting awkwardly in the centre of the restaurant, spewing water from a swan's mouth. The maître'd called on a hostess that led them to a table near the back of the restaurant, where the entire wall was made of glass to oversee a moonlit lake. It was all very beautiful.

Stephen chivalrously pulled out a chair for her before taking his own seat. "This is wonderful, Stephen," Aurelia said in awe.

"It's for you, of course," he beamed.

"Can I start you off with a drink?" the waiter asked, appearing at their table.

"We'll have some red wine," he said and turned briefly to Aurelia. "Is that okay?"

"Red will be perfect," she nodded.

.

3 glasses of wine, 2 hours, and one very filling course later, Stephen and Aurelia were enjoying their desserts over talk of their lives. When it came to the subject of Draco leaving the house on Branch Rd, Aurelia stuffed a rather large piece of cake in her mouth. Stephen got the hint and dropped the subject.

"So, Aurelia," he said, inhaling deeply.

"So, Stephen," she mimicked, taking a sip of wine to wash down the cake.

"Oh, God. I didn't think it would be this hard," he sighed.

Aurelia cocked her eyebrow at him. "What would be hard?" she asked.

"Aurelia, I brought you out here tonight to tell you something. Or, rather, ask you something," he said, reaching into his pants' pocket. Aurelia's breath caught as he stood from his seat, kneeled in front of her and held a small velvet black box in his hands. "I had a speech prepared, but my mind is so fogged up that I forgot it. To put it simply, I love you. I know it hasn't been long for us, but I love you more than I could have imagined. I don't want to wait anymore. Aurelia Leandra Finn, will you marry me?"

.

"AURELIA, NO WAY!" Pansy screeched.

"Well, there go my eardrums. Don't worry, though, I don't really need them."

"I'm sorry," she shook her head and grabbed Aurelia's left hand. "This is stunning."

"It was his mother's, going back generations, he said."

"That is so beautiful. So…very Draco-ish. I would expect nothing less from him."

Aurelia yanked her hand away so fast, she heard her finger crack. "What? You don't—You think—Oh—Pansy—I'm not—You think I'm engaged to _Draco?"_

"You mean you're not?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "God! Leave it to you to ruin a perfectly good celebration."

"I'm sorry! I just assumed that when you came in here shouting 'I'm engaged! I'm engaged!'—and with a ring like _that_—that it was Draco," Pansy shrugged.

"No, Pansy. Draco and I are no longer living together; Are no longer involved. I'm getting married to Stephen."

Pansy sighed. "Whatever you want, Aurelia. I'm still happy for you. Just…"

"Just what?"

"Well, what happens when he wakes up one day and sees the Dark Mark burning on your arm?"

"Pansy, you know I'm always careful with my Concealment Charm on that," she said sternly.

"Fine, so you're just going to marry someone that doesn't even know everything about you? He doesn't know who you are, doesn't know who your baby's father is, doesn't know half of your life for Merlin's sake!"

"I'll handle it," she assured her.

.

_Well, I'm engaged. Isn't it wonderful? I can't believe this happened. I never saw it coming, to be honest. I was absolutely dumbstruck at that restaurant._

_It wasn't easy, though. So many things rushed through my mind the moment he asked those four words. I'm pleased to say that Draco wasn't the first thing to come to mind…he was the second._

_I know it's atrocious that I was thinking about another man while being proposed to, but I couldn't help it. It's only natural in my situation, isn't it? I hope so._

_Nonetheless, I'm getting married and it's going to be wonderful. I can't wait. I love Stephen._

_27 November 1999_

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**A/N:** Please feel free to flip a shit in the reviews by clicking that green button down there VV and typing out whatever is on your mind about this chapter. Kay? Thanks.


	20. Captured

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**20. Captured

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, mkay?  
**Author's Note:** Yesterday, the 6th, was Severus Snape's birthday. Happy Birthday Snivellus XP  
Be aware, point-of-view changes sporadically here. It won't be hard to figure out. I'm just warning you. This chapter was very exciting to write, and I'm sure it'll be even more exciting to read. So, without further ado...

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"What are you doing here, Pansy?" Draco asked.

"I was on my way to St. Mungo's and decided to stop by in your fireplace," she shrugged.

"That's…nice?"

"You really don't know, do you?" she asked. Draco looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I suppose that's good. I'd rather you heard it from me than someone else. Especially Aurelia."

"What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"Draco," Pansy sighed. "Aurelia and Stephen are…engaged."

"What?" he asked, sounding as if he hadn't understood her.

"They're getting married," she clarified.

"Yeah, I know what engaged means, Pansy!" he yelled.

"There's no need to shout."

"No need—There's no—NO NEED TO SHOUT? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! YOU COME HERE TELLING ME THE LOVE OF MY LIFE IS ABOUT TO GET MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE AND THERE'S NOT A DAMN THING I CAN DO ABOUT IT!"

"Yes there is!" she protested. "Go to her, Draco! Go now and tell her not to do it!"

"It's not that simple, Pansy."

"Yes, it is."

"You don't think I've told her? I've told her a million times that I love her, and I want her to leave that insolent Ravenclaw git."

"Then tell her again!" Pansy said. "Keep telling her until she listens! She's hurt, Draco. She's confused. You have to do something about this before she makes the biggest mistake of her life."

"I don't know…"

"Now!" she yelled.

..

_I should tell him. Yes, I should tell him right this instant. What if he doesn't want to know? No, sure he does! Well, not really. He'll find out eventually, though, won't he? Of course he will, and then he'll be angry with me for not telling him right away. Okay, I'll tell him. Right now._

_28 November 1999_

Aurelia leaned over the crib to check if Tommy was still asleep. It was early enough in the morning that he wouldn't wake up for another hour or so. Surely, he'd be fine here alone for ten minutes. As she was leaning over the crib, her eyes fell on the sparkling diamond ring on her left hand. She sighed and looked away.

Aurelia was just at the foot of the stairs, merely two steps away from the Apparition Closet, when she heard a resounding _crack_ from inside. _Oh, please, don't let that be him,_ Aurelia thought as she went toward the door. She had not finished turning the knob completely when the door was thrown open with such force, it knocked her back against the opposite wall.

"Draco, what the hell!" she shouted in protest. When she looked up, however, it was not Draco she saw. "Who the fuck are you?"

That was the last thing she managed to choke out before everything went black.

.

_Where the hell am I?_ were Aurelia's first thoughts upon waking up. As she sat for several seconds, taking in her surroundings, her memory came back, faintly growing dimmer once it did. A man in a black cloak at her house. Pointing his wand at her. Blackness. Unconsciousness.

She sat up and fell right back down, everything spinning as she went. It was so cold. So very cold. She couldn't bare to open her eyes long enough to know where she was. She was on a bed. The mattress was hard and lumpy, the sheets stiff and scratchy. It was cold and damp. She could faintly smell salt as it got colder. Salt…salt water? Were those waves she could hear? Waves, salt water, uncomfortable cot, damp, cold. _Shit,_ she thought before passing out again.

She pulled back into consciousness several minutes later, and willed herself to sit up. Was it getting colder? Right as this thought floated through her mind, Aurelia felt every bit of energy sucked from her. Every happy thought that floated in the back of her mind, was gone. Snippets of memories rushed out to greet her as she fell further back into despair. The first time she ran away from home, the day she found out about her brother's death, the first time her mother hit her, the day she nearly drowned in a lake during a summer holiday, the first time her and Draco separated over a trivial argument on responsibility, the day her father died, the day her mother died, the day she broke it off with Draco for good, and a very unclear image of her last memory. All she managed to see before passing out was a small sparkle.

"Alright, alright, let her be," someone barked. The voice was so distant, Aurelia wasn't sure if she had dreamt it, or if she was awake and someone was there.

"Open the door," another voice said, female this time.

Aurelia dared to open her eyes just a bit. She could only see darkness in front of her. It was night time already. How long had she been out? As the sound of hinges squeaking sounded to her left, Aurelia felt suddenly warmer than before. She turned her head slightly and saw a bright, glowing white light. At first, she thought she was dead, but she could still smell the salt, feel the damp. She blinked, and recognized that the light had a shape. It looked like a bird. Ostrich? Flamingo? Pelican? It was a large bird. That was enough for Aurelia to realize it was a Patronus. As soon as the Patronus made Aurelia warm enough to think and move, she sat up and looked at her visitors. Nymphadora Tonks; She recognized her immediately. The man, though, took her some thinking, but she finally came to rest on the name Braden Williamson. They were both Aurors.

"What the fuck is going on?" Aurelia spat.

"Language, please, Miss Finn," Williamson tutted.

"Screw you."

"Aurelia, really, that's not polite," Tonks said, shifting her wolf Patronus sideways.

"You, are in Azkaban prison," Williamson stated.

"No shit," she sneered. "What am I doing here? I was fucking kidnapped!"

"You were arrested, Miss Finn," he clarified.

"On what grounds?" she exclaimed, though she knew the answer to this perfectly well.

"Miss Finn, we have reason to believe that you are a Death Eater and—"

"Hang on," she interrupted. "Who the hell told you that?"

"Sources, Miss Finn, sources," he said, as if mentoring a small child.

"You know, your Ministry have sunken low. This is injustice. Don't I get a trial?"

"Miss Finn, the evidence against you is outrageous," he said. "We have enough proof to administer the Dementor's Kiss and keep you in here for the rest of you existence."

"This is bullshit," she muttered.

"In fact," he continued. "We have papers being sent to the Head of the department as we speak, requesting the Kiss."

"Head of the…? You mean Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?" she asked.

"That's the one." Aurelia tried her hardest to keep a straight face. "Is that a problem?"

"It bloody well is a problem! I don't deserve this!" she screamed, though in her mind she was laughing mockingly at the ignorant man in front of her.

"We'll be back as soon as she sends us a signed release."

Aurelia did a double-take. "She?"

"The Head of the department," Tonks pitched in.

"I though the Head of the department was a man," Aurelia said in panic.

"He is. Or, rather, was until this morning. He had been acting very strangely yesterday, so he's on temporary leave. A replacement has been called in to take any duties of his," Williamson explained.

This couldn't be happening. She was going to die. Worse, she was going to rot here in a half-existence for the rest of her life. It had to be just her luck! How will Stephen cope with knowing this about her? What will Pansy and Draco do? The rest of the Death Eaters won't be able to function. Maybe Lucius would take over for her. And how will Tommy—

"Where's my son?!" she yelled, as Williamson started unlocking the door.

"Your son is fine," he said simply.

"That's not good enough!" she screamed, and lunged herself at him only to feel something holding her down. Chains. Where did those come from? "WHERE IS MY SON?!"

"Aurelia," Tonks said, starting to come towards her, but Williamson held her back. "Your son is perfectly safe. The Ministry took him into custody after your arrest."

"You call that safe?! That's the farthest thing from safe for him! Let him go!" she screamed.

"And do what? Let a one-year-old raise himself?" Williamson laughed.

"Stephen," she said quickly. "Stephen Wheeler! He's my fiancé! Give Tommy to him! Please!"

"You're engaged?" Tonks asked, her brow creasing with worry.

"Yesterday," Aurelia nodded.

"It doesn't change anything. That boy will remain in the custody of the Ministry until a proper foster home is found. Any family members, godparents, friends, or even would-be fathers are hereby seen unfit to raise him."

"No!" Aurelia screamed, her eyes stinging. "You can't do this to him!"

"We can, and we are," Williamson said finally before opening the door and stepping out. Aurelia thrashed against her shackles as she watched them walk away. Tonks shot another pitying expression over her shoulder to the sobbing Aurelia.

Once the light of their Patronuses were gone, the cold consumed Aurelia once more. She lay on her cot in a crumpled mess, losing consciousness for the umpteenth time.

..

"Aurelia?" Draco called into the house, stepping fully out of the closet. "Aurelia, where are you? We have to talk!"

Draco was about to walk upstairs when a sheet of parchment stuck to the wall caught his eye. After quickly reading the arrest warrant, he sprinted upstairs. Aurelia's bedroom was empty, Tommy gone. He ran to his old room, searching in panic. Hoping against hope that they were still there. He ran into the bathroom, turned to leave, and stopped. He turned his head toward the cupboard and a thought rushed at him. They had never determined if Aurelia was…No, he couldn't think about that now. After frantically running through every room in the house, Draco was finally convinced she wasn't there. He grabbed the arrest warrant, sprinted back into the closet, and Apparated home.

.

Everyone was in an absolute uproar. They all shouted and protested loudly. Lucius tried to get them under control, but seemed to be having a hard time at it.

"Oh, for the love of…_Sonorous_," Draco muttered. "EVERYONE SHUT THE GODDAMN HELL UP!"

Silence fell over the crowd like a blanket as everyone turned to look at Draco. "Erm, thanks, son," Lucius said, then turned to the Death Eaters. "We have to stay calm. As of yet, we do not know who sold out Aurelia Finn. I assure you, we will find out and the one responsible will be severely punished. For right now, however, we need to focus on getting her out. Rowle, any chance you can get near the new Head of department?"

"Sorry, Lucius, I was fired this morning," he said in slight shame.

"Oh, Merlin…Do we have anyone else in the Ministry? Anyone at all?" Several people shook their heads. "We'll have to try something different then. For now, I want everyone to either think up a way to get her out, or find out who's fault it is that she's there."

.

"Draco," Narcissa called after him as he stormed up the stairs. "Draco, darling, do you want to talk?"

"No!" he shouted and slammed his bedroom door shut.

"Draco, can I come in?" Pansy poked her head in through the door. Draco grunted a reply and Pansy walked into his room, closing the door behind her. She walked across the room and sat down next to him on the bed.

"This is all my fault, you know," Draco murmured before Pansy had a chance to say anything.

"How is this your fault?"

"Think about it. If I hadn't taken my sweet time going over there this morning, this wouldn't be a problem. If I hadn't even left! God, why did I leave? I should have never let her stay in that house alone. Who was I kidding, thinking she was safe?"

"Draco, please relax," Pansy said, laying her hand on his. "This isn't your fault. She'll be fine. She's a strong girl. We'll get her out and everything will be fine."

..

She woke up with a headache so intense, the pain seemed to reach all the way down to her toes. As much as she wished it was all a dream, the smell of salt and the feel of damp cold still clung to her like a curtain. She tried to hold on to the present, but visions of her past horrors kept coming back. She had no idea what time it was, but she found herself awake to a tray of food on her floor. Taking one look at something that didn't look edible in the slightest, she started to feel nauseous.

_Think of something happy, anything,_ she begged her mind. Every time she remembered anything remotely pleasant, it slipped away and was replaced with despair. She felt tears sting her cheeks. _Think of happy thoughts,_ she insisted. Of course, the dementors sucked that straight up. _God, Draco, please help me. I _need_ you,_ she thought desperately. The thought shimmered in her mind, but never left completely. She wasn't sure why the dementors didn't feed on that, but she didn't care at this point. She concentrated every portion of her mind on Draco, drinking up the energy it was giving her.

* * *

**A/N:** Fun, right? Like I said, it was exciting. So, I suggest you review. Think of it this way, I'm a dementor and reviews are happy thoughts. Make sense? Good, so do it! :)


	21. Infiltration

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**21. Infiltration

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**Disclaimer:** For all the work I put into it, you'd think this was my original stuff. Lame. Thanks anyway JKR XD  
**Author's Note:** Oh wow! Oh, wow! This-Took-Ages. I am truly sorry, I didn't mean to do it. I know that it took much too long for me to get this up, and you've all been waiting, so let me get this Author's Note out of the way so you can read. I have a few birthdays to announce that you've missed in my absence.  
_25 January-_ Happy Birthday to **ME!  
**_30 January-_ Happy Birthday Lily Evans!  
_2 February-_Happy Birthday Aurelia Finn! 3  
_6 February-_ (I'm not entirely sure if it's today. My calendar says today, but Mugglenet said yesterday. Whatever.) Happy Birthday Arthur Weasley!  
Well, now that I've gotten that over with, enjoy chapter 21!

* * *

"Just say it!" he practically screamed.

"Williamson, you are out of your bloody mind," Aurelia scoffed.

"I'm not," he shook his head. "I'll be you are, though. It hurts, doesn't it? You see everything you've ever lived through, and Merlin knows it must have been a lot. It can end right now. I can make it stop. All you have to do is confess."

"Not on your life," she spat back at him, struggling against her chains.

"Fine," he sniffed. "Just know that you're only procrastinating the inevitable. I'll be back in a few days with the papers for the Kiss. Enjoy your miserable life until then."

With those words, he left the cell, taking his warming Patronus with him. The cold flooded back into the confined space and Aurelia slumped to the floor as her chains disappeared.

..

Draco sat rubbing his head, trying to make the migraine disappear, but realized it had been a fruitless attempt from the beginning. A loud noise like the sound of a whip cracking erupted behind him and his head shot springs of pain through him.

"Master Malfoy, sir?" a small elf asked in a trembling voice.

"What?" he grumbled.

"Your father is telling you dinner is in five minutes, sir," he squeaked.

"Mhm," Draco grunted. The house elf Disapparated with another loud _crack_. Draco groaned at the headache, cursing the stupid house elf with his stupid Appara—A thought struck him.

Draco raced down the stairs to the dinner table, where Lucius and Narcissa were already seated, awaiting dinner to be brought out. His head pounded in his ears, but Draco paid it no mind. He had more important things to worry about. After properly catching his breath and taking a seat, he began to speak.

"I've just had a major epiphany," he declared.

"And what would that be?" Lucius drawled.

"House elves."

"What about them?" Narcissa asked.

"We use house elves!" Draco proclaimed, his thoughts too scattered and excited to form a proper explanation.

"Use house elves to what, Draco?" asked Lucius, sounding impatient.

"Can't all house elves break through any Anti-Apparition charms?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes," Lucius nodded slowly.

"So," Draco cried, as though it should be obvious. "We send house elves to take Aurelia!"

"That is brilliant, my boy. Just one problem."

"What would that be?"

"It's impossible," Lucius shrugged.

"What do you mean it's impossible?"

"Draco," Lucius sighed. "House elves can't be in the presence of a Dementor for more than about thirty seconds. You Apparate a house elf into Azkaban and he'll be dead within the minute. Can you not think of a single reason why Dementors would affect a creature such as a house elf in this way? He wouldn't have time to Apparate there, find her, and Apparate her back."

"Find her?"

"We have no idea as to her exact location in the prison, and it would be damn near impossible to land on it from the first try. If you're suggesting trial and error, think again. You send a house elf in there multiple time and you might as well be sending him in there for hours. It's impossible Draco, any creature that can possibly make it's way into those walls undetected will be dead before they can help us."

"What if Aurelia summoned her own house elf? Wouldn't it Apparate straight to her?" Draco asked.

"Perhaps," Lucius shrugged. "But I assure you, Aurelia is in no state of mind to be thinking up these solutions."

Draco let out a heavy sigh as dinner was brought out. He began picking at the green leaves of his salad, suddenly having lost his appetite. His head throbbed painfully, but he had long since begun to ignore it. Not until he was making idle shapes in his mashed potato did he see a pointed figure in the mould, and another thought struck him.

"What if we tell her to summon her house elf?" he asked quickly. Lucius and Narcissa looked up from their plates with quizzical eyebrows.

"And how do you propose we do that? Send her an owl?"

He seemed to ignore that. "Do you remember last year when Aurelia was trying to track down Potter?"

"She used the necklace, so?" Narcissa pitched in.

"So, why can't we use that, then?"

"Doesn't she have it with her?" she asked.

Draco shook his head. "After the incident last year, she decided it wasn't worth the trouble. She put it away for safe keeping in her father's study. Her and I are the only one that know of it's location. It's in a book…_Witches Who Cracked, And Not For The Better_ I think it was called. She carved a small hole right in the centre of the book, between the Lizzie Borden pages."

"Draco that's wonderful, son. Really, it is. I just don't think we can pull it off."

"Why not?"

"When the Ministry raided Aurelia's house, and when they arrested her afterwards, they had been guarding both residences ever since. They seem convinced that another Death Eater is going to try coming back to one of the homes. I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of being right. I will not have you thrown in jail or killed, Draco."

"You would have done it for him, father," said Draco. "If this were for him, you would have risked your own life. You put my life in danger for him when I was sixteen-years-old. He did nothing for you, nothing! One small mistake and he would have killed you, but you would have died happily for him. And now, when it becomes a matter of saving Aurelia—the woman that you and mother have treated like your own daughter, the woman that I am in love with—it becomes a whole different story. Why? Do you not trust her to lead us? You are just like every other mindless Death Eater drone. You won't trust her because she's young and a woman. I am so ashamed to hear this coming from you, father. I thought you were better than them. I guess not. But, I can assure you, I will go back. I will do whatever it takes to set her free, even if it means dying in the process. I would have expected the same from you."

He stood from the table and retreated back to his room.

.

"Fuck. Stupid parchment," Draco muttered, sucking the blood from a paper cut off of his finger.

He sighed and scanned his notes once more, Though, he had looked at them so often, he had them memorized right down to the loop's shape on the G's.

Anti-Apparating Charm- 10 meters beyond property

Apparition Detecting Charm- 15 m

Anti-Disapparating Charm- 20 m

It was practically impossible. There was no way he could possibly Apparate at least 21 meters away from Aurelia's property—the entire property, not just the house—and make it inside undetected. If only he had more time! So many different possibilities would help him if he had time. A Polyjuice Potion, or—

"Draco," Lucius said, opening the door. "Phone for you."

"Ph—? Oh, right," he shook his head, remembering. He crossed the room, grabbed the mobile from his dad's hand and shut the door. "Hello?"

"Draco Malfoy?"

"Yeah…Stephen?"

"Oh, thank God. I don't know how you guys use these things. Listen, do you know where Aurelia is?" he asked.

"Oh, er, I don't-er, no."

"Doesn't sound like a no," Stephen accused.

"Stephen, I have to go," Draco said. "Bye."

He hung up the phone before Stephen had a chance to protest. He threw the phone to the side and buried his head in his hands. It was impossible. There was no way in hell he could pull this off in just a couple of days. With a sigh, Draco pocketed the phone and left the room. He went downstairs to find his father in the kitchen, reading the _Daily Prophet_.

"Help me."

Lucius looked up from his article. "You're asking for my help?"

Draco nodded. "I'm sorry for what I said. Just help me. I'm completely lost." Pride be damned, he was desperate.

"Well," Lucius sighed, folding up his newspaper. "We're going to need all the help we can get. I'll call Bellatrix and Rudolphus. I haven't seen Wormtail in a while, but I'm sure he'd be willing to help. Maybe Crabbe and Goyle. I'm sure the Carrows wouldn't mind…"

"Where's Pansy? Wasn't she here earlier?"

"She got a call from St. Mungo's. She probably won't be back until much later."

..

Aurelia pushed herself up from the floor, mustering up whatever upper body strength she had left to do so. Thoughts kept flitting through her mind. The worst, never the best, obviously. She circled her mind around Draco, beginning to understand why memories of him confused the Death Eaters. She needed to get out. She wished there was some way for her to get out of there. She knew that wasn't possible, however. The only person that made it out of Azkaban unaided was Sirius Black, and that was because he was an Animagus. She wondered if she could talk the Dementors back onto her side, but figured it would be too risky. If they wouldn't be persuaded, she would have just given them a confession.

Aurelia's mind strangely veered off-course. She had a flash of a car ride. She didn't know where she was going, but she remembered listen to muggle music on the radio. She tried to shake it from her mind. She attempted giving the memory to the dementors, or replacing it with something else, but nothing worked. That is, until she felt her mouth forming words, and she began to sing.

She clamped her mouth shut, and looked around. "Just a small town girl!" she screamed. "Living in a lonely world! Took the midnight train going anywhe—"

"Merlin, shut up!" she heard someone shout at her from a nearby cell.

"Who is that?" she cried, running to the cell bars, the memory of the loud song completely gone from her head.

"None of your fucking business," the voice said.

"I'm Aurelia Finn," she offered, desperate.

"You are?"

"You know me?"

"I know _of_ you," the voice corrected. "I wasn't truly lucky enough to…"

"What?"

"Forgive me, my lord."

"Did you just—? Oh, my…"

"I can't believe you're in here. How did this happen?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Aurelia said. "How long have you been in here?"

"Since the battle last year, at the school."

"What's your name?" Aurelia asked, feeling slightly insignificant.

"It doesn't matter," she said, sighing.

The girl sounded young. Maybe right around Aurelia's age. What had happened last year? How many other lives were lost that she knew nothing about? Aurelia knew nothing, that's why she was here. She wasn't prepared for anything.

..

"Are you ready, Draco?" Lucius asked. "Are you sure you can do this? Are you sure you _want_ to?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, Bellatrix, ready?" She nodded. "You two can go."

"Rudolphus, you and Narcissa follow up. I'll be right behind you."

Bellatrix grabbed Draco's arm and, before he knew it, he was being pulled into a swirl of air and compression that left him breathless. They both landed on a quiet suburban street. In front of them, nearly hidden in the darkness, was a very large manor. One Draco recognized even in the dim light of the street lamps. There came a _crack_ behind them, and Rudolphus appeared with Narcissa. They waited several more seconds before Lucius Apparated in with Wormtail.

"Go, Wormtail," Lucius whispered, and they watched as Peter Pettigrew turned into a rat before their very eyes.

He scurried off toward the house while Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Rudolphus spread out to hide. Lucius pulled out his wand and cast a Disillusionment Charm on Draco. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to conceal him in the dark. The two waiting until they saw a familiar rat scampering around their feet.

"Good luck, son," Lucius said, trying to pat Draco on the shoulder, but missing the first two times.

"Thanks," Draco nodded, and took off after Wormtail.

They wove in between parked cars and trees, Peter following the path he'd mapped out away from Aurors' eyes.

They were close now. Draco could see the gates of the Manor just several steps away. Naturally, it couldn't be that easy. Draco sat crouched behind a Mercedes Sedan, trying to stay as quiet as possible while he waited for Peter to return. Due to the slight setback of two Aurors having a smoke out by the gate, Draco was in need of a new path into the house.

He watched the two men exchange pleasantries and jokes, completely oblivious to the potential intruder standing practically within spitting distance. Draco looked around for Wormtail, but he didn't seem to be back yet. Draco's legs began to grow tired beneath him from keeping a crouched position for so long.

Suddenly, out of no where, he heard a shout behind him. Lights began flashing, and he noticed them as curses and spells firing. The Aurors had spotted his father and the other lookouts. He looked around for Wormtail, but he still was no where around. The two Aurors at the gate dropped their smokes and ran towards the commotion. Draco was caught between sprinting through the unguarded gates or going back to join the fight.

"Draco, go!" he heard his father's voice above the noise. That was incentive enough; he stood and ran full-out toward the gates.

"Stop! Who are you?" called a woman, coming at him with her wand out. The Disillusionment Charm had faded. Damn.

Draco reached quickly into his pocket. "_Stupefy!_" he yelled, and the woman flew back off her feet to land just near the front porch.

Draco stepped over her unconscious body and pushed open the doors. At least half a dozen Aurors were there. Draco tried to fire as many Shield Charms, Stunning Spells, and Killing Curses as he could manage, while he tore through the house and into Dillard Finn's old study. He scanned the bookcase until he came across the title he was looking for, _Witches Who Cracked, And Not For The Better_ by Amber Chadwick. He grabbed the book from the shelf, cracked it open, and let out a sigh of relief. Sitting in between the pages, was Aurelia's four-cornered star. He grabbed the trinket, stuffed it into his pocket and left the room, cautiously looking around for oncoming Aurors.

He could hear footsteps and shouts upstairs, downstairs, and in rooms across the hall. They were looking for him. He readied his wand and headed for the stairs. As he was about to descend, he heard murmurs coming up towards him, he quickly retreated farther upstairs, but he knew that he was spotted. Draco heard a voice yell, "_stupefy_" and ducked down as a jet of red light streaked over his head. He ran in through the first door in front of him, lucky enough to find it empty. He was in Aurelia's room. There was no way out. He began to panic until he saw the back window. He considered jumping, but it was a long way down. Draco threw open the closet, hoping to find a broom, with no luck.

He remembered something. "_Reducto!_" he yelled, concentrating on blowing the wall to pieces with every fibre of his being. The Aurors were just outside the door. He had less than 10 seconds to pull this off. Sprinting through the rubble and into the adjoining room, he threw open the closet, pulled out a broom, and sprinted back to Aurelia's window. The charms around the place wouldn't let him get far, but he just needed to make it out of this window in one piece.

The Aurors burst in through the door, and shot a Stunning Spell. Draco managed to dodge it narrowly as he mounted his broom, and the force of the spell shattered the window. He collected his wits and dove out of the broken window. The broom stuttered beneath him, threatening to drop him to his death. It held out long enough, though, that Draco was able to jump down from it easily, dodging several more jinxes. He ran the distance to the fence, trying to keep a Shield Charm working against oncoming jinxes. When he got to the fence, he stopped, completely lost for what to do. The Aurors were running at him, wands raised, shooting off spells like they were chocolates. Draco tried to blast the fence apart, but it wouldn't budge and the distraction was nearly enough to get himself hit with a Stunning Spell. He wondered if trying to fight them all off would help him make it out alive. The odds seemed slim.

Suddenly, one of the Aurors fell to their knees. Draco looked behind the woman to see Bellatrix brandishing her wand, a maniacal grin on her face. The other were close behind her, Stunning and killing Aurors as fast as they could manage. The group of men and women became too preoccupied fighting off their attackers—which seemed to have increased tenfold—to pay any attention to Draco, so he took advantage of the opportunity to escape over the fence. It wasn't easy, but he managed to emit a rope from his wand, make it tie over the tip of the fence, and climb the length of it before jumping over to the other side. He was out of breath and his hands were scratched up, but he had made it.

Lucius and the rest saw that Draco was in the clear, and began retreating. He sprinted away from the grounds, trying to mentally calculate how far he'd gone. Finding mathematics a little too difficult at the moment, he ran as fast and far as he could, stopping every few paces to Apparate until, finally, the air compressed around him once more and he found himself standing in his kitchen.

They did it.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, let's clarify a few things. **a)** I realize Lizzie Borden was a muggle, but I made her a witch because I had the Lizzie Borden rhyme stuck in my head for days when I wrote that part, so I decided to mention her. Just for kicks. **b)** Yes, I made Aurelia sing Journey. I had that song stuck in my head _that_ day. Heh. **c) **I'm sorry I didn't get her out of jail in this one. I figured the chapter was getting a little lengthy, so I'm saving it for next time. **d)** Yes, this story is almost over. I can't really see myself exceeding 25 chapters. It all depends on how the next one goes, I still have a lot of things that are going to be done.

As I mentioned in my Author's Note at the beginning, my birthday was on the 25th. I had an amazing day, in case your life is boring enough that you wanna hear about it. I rented out a limo from the company my aunt works in. My three friends and I took said limo (my aunt drove, my brother, mom, dad, and cousin came along) to New York City. After that, my three friends and I departed with my family, and we went to Broadway. Of course, we saw none other than..._**Equus**_! Yes, you heard right. Let me just say, it was the most beautiful and brilliant thing I have ever had the fortune to witness. If you have even the slightest opportunity to see it, please do. It changed my life. (Of course, production stops in just a couple of weeks, so you better get a move on!) We ended the night with the classical pizza-and-coke dinner in the limo on the way home. At 8' o clock, my mom busted out the cake, I made a wish, blew out the candles, we sat around and talked, and that was my sweet 16. XD

Please review for this chapter. It's been so long since I've posted, you've read, and I've gotten reviews. I think we're all starved for those things, so don't let me down.

3


	22. Dreams

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**22. Dreams

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Wouldn't it be swell?  
**Author's Note:** I think this came out fairly quickly...I had so much fun with this one. I'm not sure if it's at all lengthy or not, but whatever. I just couldn't wait to publish it. I flipped out when I wrote the end. Well, anyway...

* * *

"That wasn't fast enough, Tawny!" Draco yelled. He paused then, and rubbed his temples impatiently. "Do it again."

"Yes sir," the house-elf squeaked. She walked to the corner of the room, Apparated to the centre, grabbed Draco's arm, and Disapparated as fast as she could.

"That was better," Draco nodded. "Do it again."

They were at it for about another hour, but Draco began feeling nauseous and decided that Tawny was trained well enough. He dismissed the house elf and went into his father's study where the charm was safely put away. He retrieved it from it's hiding spot and held it tightly in his fist. _Please see me, Aurelia_, he begged in his mind.

It was the middle of the night, surely she would be asleep. She had to be. What if the Occlumency lessons from last year weren't enough? What if she wasn't susceptible enough to the charm anymore? He couldn't think about that. Right now, he had to concentrate on getting her the message.

"Aurelia, darling, please hear me. I need you to summon Tawny. Please, love, she can get you out. We've got it all figured out. Just summon her. Can you hear me, love? She's ready for you whenever you hear this. We're going to get you out. Summon your house elf."

He continued to talk to Aurelia all night. When he saw the sun coming up through the window, he sighed, replaced the charm in it's hiding place, and went to sleep.

..

Aurelia pushed herself up on her elbows. Why did she feel like she dreamt something important? It was Draco, right? She had dreamt of Draco. Aurelia paused, waiting for the Dementors to suck up her memory, but they didn't. She smirked. Who ever thought having mixed feelings for a man would actually benefit her? Merlin, how she wanted to see Draco again. Hell, she'd be happy to see Harry Potter at this point, if it meant being out of here.

A scream interrupted her self-wallowing. "What the bloody hell?" she called, and ran to her cell bars.

"I'm sorry, my lord, bad memory," said the same girl from the day before.

"Oh, right," Aurelia nodded.

"I wish I could…," she trailed off.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just that I don't think I'll be in here much longer."

"What do you mean?" Aurelia asked.

"They're moving me down to the other end of the prison," she said, her voice quivering, as though she were thinking of something sad. Aurelia figured it must be another memory interrupting her thoughts.

"When?"

"Today, I think," the girl replied.

As if completely on cue, two Dementors came gliding towards them, and stopped in front of the cell next to Aurelia. The coldness was overwhelming. She kept her mind on Draco. Any memory of him. She could hear the girl whimpering as the Dementors entered her cell. Her whimpering turned to sobbing, and nearly screams of terror while the hooded beasts grabbed her by the arms, and began carrying her away. By the time she passed by Aurelia, the girl was passed out. That was the first, and probably last, glimpse Aurelia saw of her. Blonde hair, glasses, dressed in rag-like clothes that probably didn't look much better than Aurelia's. Her head was hanging to one side, her round face screwed up in pain. Aurelia wrenched her gaze away from the girl's matted hair and wilting body, trying not to give the Dementors something new to feed on.

..

Aurelia sat in a small dungeon-like room, her arms wrapped around herself. She shivered as she rocked slightly back and forth, tears streaming down her face. Her hair was tussled, her eyes bloodshot with dark purple bags under them, her clothes were dirty, and her skin looked like it was stretched much too tightly over her sunken face.

The doors to her cell creaked open, and more coldness filled the room. Aurelia began sobbing. Two Dementors glided in, closing in on Aurelia. They got much too close. She tried to scream, but it came out as a hiccup, followed by more sobs. The Dementor drew closer, it's hood dropped. Aurelia saw the hideous face—was it even a face?—beneath the hood and another scream rose up her throat. She opened her mouth to let it out, but couldn't seem to remember anything at that point. Her mind went blank. Everything around her seemed like it wasn't there. She could clearly see the stone walls around her, the Dementor in front of her, retreating now. She could clearly feel the cold­ dampness the ocean seemed to cause in the concrete prison. She could clearly see and feel all of this, and yet, it seemed to have no affect on her. She tried to imagine herself in the small room, but no thoughts rose to greet her. She didn't have thoughts. She couldn't comprehend the life she was in. Was she alive? Maybe. She touched the floor, and she could feel it. What did it feel like? Cold and hard, she decided. What exactly did that feel like?

Aurelia tried to think, but she didn't have any memory of what thought was. She could feel and see, but that was as far as her mind stretched. She couldn't think, she couldn't remember. Aurelia fell crumpled and soulless to the floor. She lay there, not thinking, not imagining, not remembering; simply existing. She curled into a ball, shivering from the cold she couldn't understand. She didn't look much different. He hair was still matted, her clothes dirty and barely covering her cut legs, scratched arms, and slightly bulging stomach. Her eyes, though, seemed far away. She was gone, and so was anything, or anyone, she was trying to keep alive.

Draco sat bolt right up in bed. Sweat was running down his forehead, and the sheets were clinging to his body. He kicked them off and stumbled out of bed. His breathing was shallow and his head spun as he recalled the horrifying dream he had just had. Aurelia, already dying, had her soul sucked out by the Dementors. Her image was enough to make him throw up. Speaking of which…

.

"Good evening, son," Lucius greeted. Draco had composed himself enough to join his family for dinner. "Did you sleep well?"

Draco grunted a non-committal response. "What are we having?" he asked, but didn't really listen for an answer

"Draco, son, are you listening to me?" Lucius asked.

"Sorry, father. What did you say?" Draco nearly yawned.

"I said, maybe you should get some sleep tonight. I'll do it."

"No!" he shouted. "I mean, no thank you. I can handle it just fine."

"By the way, that Stephen fellow called again while you were asleep. He's looking for Aurelia and Tommy," Lucius commented offhandedly, eating his meal.

"What did you tell him?" Draco asked.

"I said I have no idea where they are."

"Clever," Draco muttered sarcastically.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

.

Draco slumped toward the stairs. He had only made it up two steps when there was an outrageously loud knock at the door. He turned around and answered it.

"Stephen!" Draco yelped in surprise.

"Where the hell are they?!" he demanded, stepping into the house without an invitation.

Draco closed the door. "What are you talking about?"

"Aurelia and Tommy! Where the fuck are they? I swear to God, Malfoy, if you did anything to them—"

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Draco recoiled. "You think I did something to them?"

"I'm running out of options, here," he growled.

"I haven't seen them any more than you have, so you can just piss off. I have enough on my plate at the moment," Draco snapped.

"So help me, if I find out you had anything to do with this—"

"You'll what?" Draco scoffed. "Kill me? Be my guest."

"You can bet I'm going to the Ministry right now, and if they find _anything_ that links her disappearance to you, you'll be under a gravestone before you can blink!"

"No!" Draco screamed, and blocked the doorway. "You can't go to the Ministry."

"And why not?!"

"Because-I-they don't-I can-they-I know where Aurelia is!" he sputtered.

"What?"

"Fuck," he muttered, too low for Stephen to hear. "That's right. She's upstairs."

"You're fucking dead," he growled and sprinted up the stairs. Draco cursed himself and tore after him.

"Stephen, wait!" Draco called.

"Stay out of this, Malfoy! Aurelia, where are you?!" he shouted, walking from room to room.

Draco sighed and retrieved his wand. "_Stupefy!_"

.

"Draco, are you _insane_?" Lucius screamed. "What have you done?!"

"He was going to the Ministry! Would you rather he'd have found out everything that way?"

"Draco, I'd rather you had left this alone! Or at least called on me; I would have talked him down! What are we supposed to do with him now?!" he shouted.

"I don't know! I'm just as freaked out as you are!"

"Draco?" a female voice called from the adjacent room. "Draco what's all the shouting?"

Draco's head snapped in her direction. "Pansy? Is that y—holy shit."

..

"Aurelia, listen to me! Hear me, Dammit! Summon your damn house elf! Why the fuck can't you hear me?!" he screamed, his anger fuelled only by the image he dreamt.

"Draco, darling," Narcissa said, walking into the study. "Are you alright?"

"No, mother, I'm not! She won't do it! She can't hear me!" he screamed.

"Maybe you should take a break. It's the middle of the night, get some sleep," she suggested.

"I can't! She's sleeping now, too! She needs to hear me!" he yelled, his voice cracking in desperation.

"I know," she whispered, and retreated from the room.

"Aurelia, I swear to you, I can get you out of there! Just summon your goddamn house elf! Tawny! Remember Tawny? Call her to you, she'll get you out, I promise!"

He threw the charm across the room with an angry shout. He waited several seconds for his breathing to return to normal before retrieving it and settling down in his father's chair. He clenched the trinket in his hand and pressed it to his chest. Aurelia was out there, suffering. She was in so much danger. How much time did he possibly have until it was too late? Three days? Two? One? Less? What if he didn't have any time at all? What if they were planning to perform the Kiss the next morning? What if they already had?

"No!" Draco screamed at the top of his lungs. "Aurelia, listen to me! I know you can hear me now! You have to remember this dream! I want you to wake up and summon Tawny! Call her to you! Remember this dream, Aurelia! Please! Everything is falling apart without you. Tommy is gone; the Ministry has him. The Death Eaters are getting restless. My father is beginning to lose his mind! Stephen—Well, he's not a subject I would prefer to touch on at the moment. Please, Aurelia, you _have to_ remember this dream, and get yourself out! Just call her, that's all it will take. One or two simple shouts of 'Tawny!' and you're home free!"

Draco sighed and slumped in his chair. There wasn't much more he could do…

Aurelia peeled her eyes open. She struggled to keep a hold of her dream. Draco. She remembered him. His voice: still as husky and comforting as it ever was, even in anger. He was angry? Why? Maybe not angry, maybe he was worried. He sounded—

"_Where's my son?!" she yelled as Williamson started unlocking the door._

"_Your son is fine," he said simply._

"_That's not good enough!" she screamed, and lunged herself at him only to feel something holding her down. Chains. Where did those come from? "WHERE IS MY SON?!"_

"_Aurelia," Tonks said, starting to come towards her, but Williamson held her back. "Your son is perfectly safe. The Ministry took him into custody after your arrest."_

"_You call that safe?! That's the farthest from safe for him! Let him go!" she screamed._

Aurelia pushed the memory away and scowled at the passing Dementor. What had she been thinking? Oh! The dream! What was it? Draco…yelling. Yes, that's it. He was angry, she remembered. No, no, he was worried. Maybe a combination of both. What was he saying? She felt like she should remember his words. Free? Free! He was going to set her fr—

"_So, what are you saying?" He took a step back._

"_I'm saying…" Aurelia inhaled a deep breath. "I'm saying that maybe we need to be away from each other for a while. To figure things out."_

"_Aurelia, don't say that," he shook his head fervently. "There is nothing to figure out. We're fine. We don't need to…break up."_

"_Draco, don't think of it that way. It's not forever. Just for a while."_

"_And what happens if during this…break you decide that you like it better that way? Without me?"_

"_I won't."_

"_And if you do?"_

_Aurelia took another deep breath. "Then, maybe we would need to talk about making the break more permanent."_

_Draco took another step back, a larger one this time, leaving at least two feet of space between them. "Fine."_

"_Draco—"_

"_Let me know when you change your mind," he said and Disapparated._

Damn those Dementors to hell! she thought angrily. She wished they would stop interrupting her! Now, what happened in the dream? Draco was talking in an angry—maybe worried—tone to her. Telling her he can free her. How? She had to do something, clearly, otherwise he wouldn't bother talking to her. What was it? Call someone…that made no sense. How was she supposed to do that. Call…summon? Yes, that was the word he used, she was sure of it. What does he mean summon? As in summon a—

"_Aurelia, I brought you out here tonight to tell you something. Or, rather, ask you something," he said, reaching into his pants' pocket. Aurelia's breath caught as he stood from his seat, kneeled in front of her and held a small velvet black box in his hands. "I had a speech prepared, but my mind is so fogged up that I forgot it. To put it simply, I love you. I know it hasn't been long for us, but I love you more than I could have imagined. I don't want to wait anymore. Aurelia Leandra Finn, will you marry me?"_

"Suck on this, Dementor!" she screamed. "TAWNY!"

* * *

**A/N:** You know when you're reading a book, and something incredibly exciting that you've been waiting ages for happens? And, not only does it happen, but it happens in the most spectacularly incredible way? So, you start flipping out and spazzing because you're so excited. Well, as strange as this sounds, when I wrote the very last line of this chapter, I had a similar flip out. It's weird, I know, because I wrote it, and I knew it was going to happen. I couldn't help myself, it was just too damn riveting. Anyway, I'm done rambling. Hope you liked it!

Review, por favor!


	23. HouseElf Appreciation

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**23. House-Elf Appreciation

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Jo Rowling isn't a 16-year-old nerdfighter named Amanda Rumm. Amanda Rumm is not a world-renowned, best-selling author named Jo Rowling.  
**Author's Note:** So much to say, but I'm sure you're all anxious to read after that EXTREMELY long wait. So, without further ado, CHAPTER 23!

* * *

"Draco, son, get some sleep. You can try again tomorrow night," Lucius poked his head into the room, yawning.

"Yeah, I'm going," he sighed, replaced the small metal shape, and stood from the chair.

"How did it go?" Lucius stepped aside to let Draco walk through the door.

"I did the best I could, father. There really isn't much I can do. I just don't want to be too late…"

He dragged his body to his room, and fell on his bed. He didn't bother changing, just fell asleep in his clothes. Of course, his night was disturbed once more by extremely vivid images of Aurelia's crumpled and suffering form. He didn't get much sleep, an hour or two, perhaps. When he peeled his eyes open, the sun was shining dimly through his window, signalling the early morning. He groaned and pulled himself up into a sitting position. This whole lack of sleep thing was really starting to get to him.

Slowly, he rose from bed, and began trudging lazily toward the bathroom. A loud eruption from downstairs made him wide awake. _Stephen_, he thought angrily and raced down the staircase. He was still on the steps when another loud noise cut him off. He recognized it this time.

"Aurelia!" he cried and ran to her side, the house elf clutching her, trying to hold her up.

She fell limply to the floor. Her features didn't look much less than what Draco imagined, but definitely not as bad. He was relieved slightly to know that his dreams had been an exaggeration. He knelt beside her, cradling her body in his arms. The Apparating must have made her dizzy, but she started waking again.

"Draco," she groaned. After several seconds, her eyes opened wider as she seemed to realize her surroundings. "Draco!"

Without much more warning, she sat up and threw her arms around him. Draco wrapped his arms tightly around her as she began sobbing into the crook of his neck. He drew lazy circles on her back, still unable to believe that she was back, and this wasn't a dream. Maybe he hadn't actually woken up just yet. Suddenly, Aurelia pulled away and stared at his face, probably trying to convince herself of the situation's reality, too.

"How—?" she began, but shook her head, wrapping her arms around his neck again.

"Aurelia, you've no idea," he managed to choke out, tightening his arms around her. "The worry you left me with. I was so afraid. I couldn't lose you. I love you, Aurelia. I'm sorry."

"You should be," she hiccupped and pushed away from him. "It's all completely your fault!"

"I…know."

"Do you?" Aurelia seemed to have regain her self-awareness, and composed herself enough to think properly. "It was your stupid fault this happened! You left me! How could you leave me? Why?" She hit him across the chest with her fists, but her yells became more sobs and she collapsed in his arms again.

Maybe she hadn't composed herself that well. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, rocking her gently, still sitting on the floor.

"I'll never forgive you for this, Draco Malfoy," she muttered, wiping her face with her palm. That's when Draco saw it. The glittering diamond on her left hand. She followed his gaze to the engagement ring. "Stephen!"

"He's fine. He was worried, but he's…erm, fine."

"What? Where is he?" she cried.

"Downstairs," Draco winced.

Aurelia stared at him a long moment, trying to understand his words.

..

"You loathsome, no-good, foul, low-life, conniving, arse!" she screamed, advancing on him.

"Aurelia, darling, you have to understand! I had no choice!" Draco said, retreating.

"Don't call me darling! I don't want to hear one word from you! How dare you?! What made you think you had the right?! You will regret this until the day you die, Draco Malfoy! And, right now, that day seems to be arriving quite soon!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Tell that to him!" she yelled. "Tell that to my fiancé! The one you stunned and were keeping _hostage_!"

"You're overreacting!"

"I am _not_ overreacting! You're lucky I'm not chewing you to pieces right now!"

"God, will you please just _stop_?! I am so sick and tired of this! You are constantly trying to make me look like the bad guy! Don't give me that look, you know what I mean. I haven't done anything wrong! Alright, granted, I took your fiancé hostage. But don't tell me that it was unjustified! Why are you even marrying him?! You don't love him!"

"How dare you?! Of course I love him!" she yelled.

"Oh, bullocks! You very well do not, and you know it!"

"What? Do you suppose I love you instead, then?"

"Yes," he nodded smugly. "I do."

"Well, I don't!" she shouted and stormed off, flushing pink.

.

Aurelia rifled through the closet in her old Malfoy Manor bedroom, looking for anything she could change into. She finally grabbed a pair of muggle jeans, a purple t-shirt, white trainers, and a black travelling cloak. After washing up quickly, she pulled the clothes on, snuck into Narcissa's bedroom to steal her wand, and Apparated to Diagon Alley. The cold wind whipped around, but she was grateful for it. It gave her an excuse to pull up her hood and hug her cloak tightly around her face, without seeming odd. She slipped into the Apothecary, looking for an employee.

"Can I help you, miss?" squeaked the witch.

"I need an, ahem, Indicator Potion," she mumbled.

A smile spread across the witch's face. "Of course, of course," she nodded. "It'll be six galleons—"

"Actually, I wondering if you have some of your stronger sort. I know they're difficult to make, but it's urgent. And I've only been…er, it's only been about a week. I need it, though."

"Sure, but it'll be rather expensive—"

"I don't care," she snapped.

"I think I have a vial in the back," the witch muttered. She disappeared for a moment, and came back with a small red vial. "That's forty-five galleons."

"Forty—? Alright, fine," Aurelia nodded. She pulled a handful of galleons from her pocket, and dumped them on the counter.

"That's probably too much…," the witch muttered as she eyed the pile.

"It's fine," Aurelia said abruptly, grabbing the vial. "Thank you, good-bye."

She pulled the cloak tighter around her face, and ran towards Knockturn Alley, where she Disapparated, her heart hammering after seeing a Wanted poster with her face on it. That was quick. She pulled the cloak off, and ran to the toilet as soon as she got back. She drank the potion in haste. About five minutes passed until her bladder felt as though it were on the verge of explosion.

.

She stared intently at the toilet. She shut her eyes, and opened them again. No, it still looked the same. It couldn't be right. She could have sworn that…

"Aurelia!" Draco shouted outside the door. "Are you in there?"

"Er, yes," she choked out.

"What are you doing? You've been in there for ages."

"I-uh-I'm-er, nothing," she stuttered.

Draco opened the door, and Aurelia just barely managed to close the lid down. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" she snapped. "Merlin, can't you knock?!"

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Aurelia shoved past him, well aware of what she left behind her. She'd deal with that later. Draco followed her as she went downstairs, staying silent the whole way. It wasn't until they were both in the kitchen that she said something.

"I'm going," she announced.

"Sorry?"

She didn't reply to him. Simply turned on her heel, and disappeared. What she saw before her seconds later, made her breath catch in her throat. She knew she was coming here, but she wasn't quite prepared for it. There, just down the road, was her home. The home she had escaped from, fearing never to return to. Not anytime this soon, anyway. She saw people there, in front of the gate; they were standing and talking to each other. Aurors.

Suddenly, a loud _crack_ erupted from beside her, and she wheeled, ready to attack. Draco stood staring at her with a hard look on her face. She turned away from him in a huff and continued to watch the house.

"Not now," he whispered in her ear, much too close for comfort.

"Don't tell me what to do," she snapped. "I'm in charge of you, don't forget."

"Oh, of course, my lord," he bowed humbly, his voice slightly mocking. "Or should it be something more feminine? Dark Lady? No, that won't do. Dark Mistress? Do you like that…my mistress?"

"Sod off," she mumbled acidly.

"Don't be stupid, Aurelia," he said, sobering up. "It's the middle of the day. We'll come back…I promise. Okay?"

"Fine." She paused, then snorted. "Dark Mistress. You're ridiculous."

.

"Where are you off to _now_?" Draco whined.

"Well, if I can't fight them in broad daylight in front of Muggles, I'll fight them in broad day light away from Muggles."

"What?"

"Honestly," Aurelia sighed. "Are you coming or are you going to stand there like a blithering idiot?"

"Come where?" he demanded, as Aurelia grabbed his arm, and pulled him into the green flames.

"The Ministry of Magic," she smirked, letting the fire engulf them.

.

"Huh. I can't believe your father's fire was still connected to this place. Bunch of morons…"

"Are you mad?!" Draco exclaimed, and turned around, trying to conceal Aurelia from passerby.

"Possibly," she nodded, and tried to push him out of the way. "I'm not trying to hide, Draco. I came here to fight, and that's what I'll do."

"Don't be ridiculous," he whispered frantically. "Now, get back into that fireplace, and go home!"

"Relax!" she rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to get myself killed."

"Too right you will!" he nodded.

Aurelia let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Draco, I want my son back. I'm not leaving here until I find him."

Draco looked at her for a moment, examining the expression in her eyes. "Pull your hood up, and keep your head down," he said finally.

Aurelia obeyed without an argument, and so they both walked through the Ministry, trying to attract as little attention as possible. They had made it safely to the elevator, and stepped inside, closing it before anyone else could occupy it with them. Obviously, Aurelia and Draco hadn't thought this through. Aurelia was one of the most wanted people in the Wizarding World…and she was traipsing around the Ministry of Magic. Brilliant plan. The elevator came to a stop on level seven. ("Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents Office," chimed the cool, clear female voice.) Two wizards in black robes entered the elevator, along with several departmental memos. Aurelia bent down and pretended to tie her shoe as Draco turned his head and rummaged through the pocket in his cloak.

"Don't worry about it, Tobe, you'll make it on time," assured one of the men. The other grunted in reply.

"Level six, Department of Magical Transport, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparition Test Centre."

The two wizards exited, and thankfully, no one else joined the ride. As the doors closed, Aurelia straightened up. Aurelia cast a sideways glance at Draco, and the look on his face told her all she needed to know. He thought they were wasting their time coming here. She wanted to claw out his eyes for thinking such a thing, but controlled herself. Soon, they got to where they needed to be.

"Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, Care of Wizarding Youth Department, and Wizengamot Administration Services."

"Aurelia, are you sure about this?" Draco whispered, grabbing her arm to hold her back.

"Don't you dare ask me that," she growled, and pulled herself away from his grip. They walked down the hallway with their heads down. All of the witches and wizards were in too much of a hurry to give them a second look.

"Here," Draco said shortly, motioning to a door marked, _Care of Wizarding Youth Department._

Aurelia nodded, and opened the door to find herself facing another hallway, this one smaller and shorter than the main one they had just entered from. Nearly towards the very end, they found the file room. Aurelia walked inside, followed by Draco who shut the door quietly behind them.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Draco asked.

"We're looking for his file. I need to know where they're keeping him," she explained.

Nearly half an hour had passed during which time they had rifled through drawers and folders, looking for any variation of the name "Thomas Dillard Finn" with little luck. Until finally, in a completely separate drawer containing about a dozen files, they found it.

_Name: Finn, Thomas Dillard_

_Age: 1 year_

_Parents: Aurelia Leandra Finn; Draco Lucius Malfoy_

_Parental Status: Mother- Azkaban; Father- Unknown_

_Relatives: None_

_Lineage: Wizard; Pureblood_

_Special Abilities/ Qualities: None/Not found_

_Status: Unplaced; Room 103_

Aurelia raised and eyebrow. "Unplaced? What does that mean?"

"It means they haven't assigned him a foster family. He's here, in the Ministry. Probably in this Room 103," Draco muttered, reading over the parchment.

"So, we go find him," Aurelia stated, closing the folder and replacing it. She heard Draco sigh, but ignored him.

They excited the file room and continued on. The very last door in the Department's hallway was marked "Unplaced Youth." Aurelia glanced at Draco; he seemed nervous, but determined. Aurelia was just about to pull the door handle, when the door swung open.

"What are you doing down here?" the witch asked.

"Oh, we, er—"

"Hang on," she said slowly. "I know who you are. You're that one they're all looking for!"

"Oh, bugger," Aurelia sighed and reached into her robes for her wand. "_Stupefy._ Some people just need to learn when to shut their mouths."

"Very nice, Aurelia," Draco droned sarcastically. "That was a bloody fool-proof plan."

"I don't care," she shook her head, and stepped over the woman through the door.

Once again, they were presented with a hallway. This one was the smallest and shortest of them all. It had about ten door on each side, all of them too close together to indicate large rooms behind them. They walked slowly, reading the labels. One side were even numbers, the other, odds. 119, 117, 115, 113, 111, 109, 107, 105...103.

"This is it," Aurelia breathed. Draco put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and nodded his head. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The room was empty. "Where is he?!"

All there was to see was a small room, about the size of a washroom. It contained a crib, a bureau, a small mirror, and hanging lamp. The bedding in the crib was made up carefully, and the light was turned off. There was no child in sight, and no indication that a child even lived there. Aurelia circled the small area twice before collapsing onto the floor in shock.

"Is this a joke?" she whimpered, her voice cracking.

"I'm so sorry," Draco whispered.

"I don't need your sympathy," she snapped. "I need my son!"

Draco ignored her yelling, and pulled her into his arms. She sat still for several minutes before beginning to convulse with sobs. It took at least ten minutes until she was able to compose herself enough to stand, and clear her head. Draco stood up next to her, looking wearily at her face, as if expecting her to start crying again at any moment. Aurelia opened her mouth to say something when she heard the door handle move. She shot her head in the direction in time to see the door swing open. A Healer stood in the doorway, with a child next to her, holding her hand. He had dark hair that was in desperate need of a haircut, blue second-hand robes, and bright blue eyes with vibrant specs of gold. He jumped slightly as a loud hiccup escaped his throat.

"Tommy," Aurelia sobbed.

"Mummy!" he cried loudly, and wrenched his hand away from the Healer to run at her. The woman caught him, and held him back, though.

"Who are you?" she asked. "What are you doing in here?"

"I-I-I'm his mother," Aurelia sobbed, not taking her eyes off of her son.

"His…mother? Hang on, you're supposed to be in Azkaban. Oh, no," the witch shook her head of strawberry-blond hair. "You're her. The one that escaped. Thomas, we need to get out of here."

"Don't you dare take my son from me!" Aurelia yelled suddenly. "_Stupefy!_"

"In front of the boy, Aurelia?" Draco joked, but no one heard him. Aurelia ran forward, and embraced Tommy tightly in her arms. She shook vigorously with sobs as she kissed and hugged him. The sight was much too heart-warming for even the child's sake.

"Are you alright, Tommy? Did they hurt you?" she fussed.

"What happened to Miss Marron?" Tommy asked, pointing at the Stunned witch.

"Don't you worry about her, sweetheart. Let's get you home."

"Aurelia, I hate to break up the moment, but I think we might have a problem." Aurelia looked at him. "This Healer came in here without any panic. That means she didn't run into the witch you stunned at the doorway…"

"Which means she's not there anymore, and probably went for help," Aurelia finished his thought. "Shit."

"What's wrong, Mummy?" Tommy hiccupped.

"We have to get out of here, love. We've got to go now. Quickly."

She scooped Tommy up in her arms, but after stumbling under his increased weight, handed him over to Draco. She pulled out her wand, and walked ahead of them. They walked down the hallway as quickly as they could. The door at the end was shut, no Stunned witch to be seen.

"Do you think we could Apparate from here?" Draco asked. Aurelia stopped in her tracks, turned on her heel, and came to face Draco. She shook her head. "It was worth a try."

Just before they could get to the door, it swung open to reveal three Aurors.

"Fuck!" Aurelia shouted, which, in retrospect, wasn't the most logical thing to shout when her wand was pointed at the armed men. A spell might have been more affective. "_Stupefy! Protego! Avada Kedavra! Stupefy! Protego!_"

The spells were shooting at each other with increased speed. Draco set Tommy on the ground behind him, and joined Aurelia. They managed to knock several Aurors down, but several more joined the fight. Aurelia tried to focus on the fight as well as keep Tommy out of shooting range. It was proving to be very difficult on both counts. Of course, being the clever and resourceful boy that he no doubt should be with parents like his, Tommy decided to find his own cover. He opened the nearest door to them, and stepped inside. Aurelia noticed and backed into it with Draco, firing spells on their way. They shut the door tightly, and sealed it with a locking charm. It wouldn't keep them safe, but it bought them time.

"I'm beginning to really enjoy having money to afford things like this," Aurelia muttered.

"What are you talking abou—"

"Tawny!" she shouted. After less than three seconds, a house elf appeared in front of her. "Take Tommy home and then come back for Draco."

The house elf nodded, grabbed Tommy by the hand, and Disapparated.

"Come back for _me?_ No, she's coming back for _you_," Draco argued.

"I'm not being a hero, Draco. She's coming right back for me afterward. I just figured it would be harder for her to take us both at once," Aurelia rolled her eyes. Tawny appeared again, as bangs came from the other side of the door. "Go!"

Draco looked like he was about to argue, but the next loud bang on the door told him he didn't have the time. He grabbed the house elf's hand and was gone with a _crack_. The door burst open at that second, and four Aurors were pointing their wands straight at her face.

"Bloody hell," she muttered. "Don't fire, please! I give up! I'll come quietly. Just, don't fire."

One of the Aurors began lowering his wand, until a look from his colleague told him to put it back up. Aurelia, to show her surrender, pocketed her own wand. The Aurors seemed almost convinced, until Tawny reappeared. Aurelia grabbed the house elf's arm.

"GO!" she shouted, and just barely made it out as four different curses flew at her.

* * *

**A/N:** OKAY! Here we go.

_First_: I know that it took much too long to get this out, but I have a lot of stuff going on at the moment which makes it hard to find time to write. And, when I do get time, I usually am not feeling very creative, so you'll have to forgive me for that.

_Second_: It's almost over! Just one chapter left! Maybe, possibly, two. It depends on how the next chapter goes. There are a couple of things that I originally planned to do that I'm thinking of cutting out. Like I said before, it won't be going over 25 chapters. It'll be 24 or 25.

_Third_: I want to apologize for a few things that I've done with this story. My friend Ashlee said that I shouldn't bother saying sorry, that I was well within my creative rights, but I feel like I should do it anyway.  
We all remember when I first introduced Aurelia's family heirloom: the four-cornered necklace charm. I attempted to make it seem as canon-possible as I could, but I know a few people thought it was ridiculous. In truth, nothing in the entire series ever said something like that was impossible, but because it didn't say that it WAS possible, some people weren't thrilled about it. I also tried to make the escape from Azkaban and the entire house-elf rescuing as realistic as possible, I hope I did. So, basically, I'm apologizing for non-canon. :)

Fourth: Where are my reviews?!?! Let's get going, people.


	24. Lies

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**24. Lies

* * *

**Disclaimer:** All characters and settings belong to JK Rowling. All song lyrics belong to The Remus Lupins.  
**Author's Note:** It's not even funny how many birthdays I've missed. I didn't post any Happy Birthdays last chapter, so it's been forever. So..._Happy Birthday to every Harry Potter character and actor that had a birthday since Chapter 22_. Enjoy the chapter. Lots of Romance and Drama in this one. You'll all hate it.

* * *

"Mummy, sing a song," Tommy begged, sitting up in his crib.

"No, darling, it's time for you to go to sleep."

"Please!" he whined.

"Alright, a short one," she whispered, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

_Oh my dearest Tommy boy,_

_You showed me never-ending joy._

_Oh, boy._

_Close your eyes; don't watch the sky._

_Fall asleep to this lullaby._

_My boy._

Tommy rubbed his eyes, but forced himself to stay awake, listening intently to Aurelia's soothing voice. She thought she sounded a little off-key, but Tommy liked it enough, so she kept going.

_When you wake I will be there,_

_To make sure life is more than fair._

_Oh, boy._

_You stand as a reminder of_

_The victory of true love._

_My boy._

Aurelia ran her hand gently across her son's cheek, feeling his warm skin beneath her cold fingers. He smiled.

_Oooh, sleep you well._

_Oooh, sleep you well._

_Oh, my little perfect son,_

_Can't understand what you have done for me._

_You showed me what my life was worth._

_Changed every colour with your birth._

_My boy._

Aurelia heard footsteps outside of the door, but ignored them. She kept singing, watching Tommy's eyes droop slightly. He curled his small fingers around Aurelia's hand. The door opened.

_For many years from now, you'll hear this song._

_Know I'm next to you; know I'm never gone._

_Oh, boy._

_You are who I'm fighting for,_

_So let them come to our front door._

_I'll stand._

_Oooh, sleep you well._

_Oooh, sleep you well._

Draco walked up behind Aurelia and placed his hand softly on her shoulder. She raised the hand that was holding Tommy's and rested it on Draco's. He smiled warmly and joined the ending of the lullaby.

_Sleep you well, my son._

_We'll be home for you when the battle's done._

_Sleep you well, my son._

_We'll be home for you when the battle's done._

_Sleep you well, my son._

_We'll be home for you when the battle's done._

.

"Everything will be alright," Draco said calmly as they descended the stairs toward the kitchen.

"I'm not so sure anymore, Draco," Aurelia whispered, shaking her head.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise," he said. He stopped, and turned Aurelia around to face him. "Look at me. I swear to you, I'll make sure you make it out of this alive and safe. We will win this war, and then we can live properly, the way it's supposed to me. Just you, Tommy, and me. No more hiding."

"Draco, please, don't…say that."

Aurelia turned away and continued walking. Draco sighed. "Aurelia, can you please stop this?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"There's nothing for me to stop," she replied.

"Yes there is," he argued. "You can stop pretending like being away from me isn't killing you! You can stop pretending that you don't wish everything was back to the way it was before. You can stop pretending you don't _need_ me."

She froze.

"Take that back," she muttered.

"What?"

"Take that back! Don't ever say that again! I do not _need you_!" she yelled. Draco looked stunned. He had no idea where this was coming from. What had he said wrong? "Go away. Now. Get out of here."

"Aurelia, what's the matter—"

"I said, go!"

.

"Aurelia, there's someone here to see you," Lucius said, poking his head around the corner.

"Tell them to go away," she replied bitterly.

"Well, fine," Pansy snorted, walking into the room. No, wait. She _walked_ into the room?

"Bloody hell!" Aurelia exclaimed, jumping from her seat as though the sofa cushions had suddenly turned to hot coals. "You-you're-you-you're walking!"

"Indeed I am," she said smugly, spinning on her heel.

"What-how-when-wha-how did this-when did—"

"Well, while you were busy rotting away in Azkaban," she paused, testing if it was the wrong thing to say. "I was at the hospital, where my legs were cured! They figured it out. So, a few counter-curses and potions later, and I was good as new. What do you think?"

"I think it's brilliant," Aurelia grinned, embracing Pansy in her arms. "I've missed you like this."

"I've missed me like this, too. But enough of that. How are you feeling? Did you get out alright? I heard you had quite a run-in with the Ministry earlier today."

"Oh, you heard about that already, eh?" Aurelia winced.

"It's all over the evening _Prophet_, Aurelia," she pointed out. "So, what exactly happened?"

"Nothing, really. I mean, I needed Tommy back, you know? So, I went and got him. End of story," she shrugged.

Pansy chuckled lightly, and waved off Aurelia's terrible explanation. "Where's Draco?"

"I don't know," Aurelia mumbled quickly. Pansy raised an eyebrow at her.

.

"You were going to have to do this sooner or later," Lucius drawled.

"I was hoping later," Aurelia sighed. "Whatever, let's go."

Lucius pushed open the door to the dining room, where dozens of witches and wizards stood chattering. The second Aurelia stepped into the room, everyone fell silent and the tension in the air felt immediately tangible. They stared at her like she came back from the dead, not prison. She tried to avoid staring straight into any of their eyes, for fear of freezing up after seeing the emotions behind them. She kept her head up high,—confident—her eyes scanning the wall above their heads. Aurelia took a seat at the head of the table, and those nearest the chairs joined. The rest simply stood against the walls, still staring.

"Good evening my Death Eaters. I understand that my absence might have been a little unnerving, but I'm back now. Anything that happened in the few days I wasn't here, will be, for the time being, disregarded. Though I trust no one gave Lucius a hard time while he was trying to help me escape, because the punishment for those who did will be severe, and will come in due time." Maybe she was being over-dramatic.

"Now, on to other matters. After my escape, and rendezvous at the Ministry, the Aurors and the Order are more on the look out for me than ever before. Which means there's only a matter of time before they find me, and all hell breaks loose. As far as I'm concerned, the best way to deal with this situation is to confront it head-on. If we start the fight, then we finish it. I'm giving you all one day to prepare. This is not for your convenience, it's for mine.

"I will see you all here tomorrow at a quarter to midnight. That's all. You're dismissed."

Within the next several seconds, the noise in the room was practically unbearable as every member present Disapparated. However, when they did, the silence was deafening. Aurelia looked around, hoping that there might be one certain person she could not see, hiding in the corner, but there wasn't. Only her, Lucius, and Pansy remained in the room. Aurelia stood from her chair and rushed out.

.

Aurelia lifted her palm in front of her face, and frowned at the wrinkles. She flexed her hand, making the creases in her skin expand and contract oddly. She was suddenly startled by a knock on the door.

"Go away," she groaned. "I'm having a bath."

The door opened anyway; she tried to ignore it.

"What?" she conceded.

"I've just received an owl from my father," Draco drawled.

"So?"

"Well, we've found out who was informing on you to the Ministry."

"And?"

Draco sighed. "It was Isabella."

"The nanny?" she asked.

"The very same," he nodded. Aurelia nodded back, and twirled her hands lazily around in the water. "Are you worried? Aren't you going to do something about this?"

"Of course I'm going to do something. Right now, though, I'm having a bath. I'm relaxing." She cupped some water in her hand and poured it over the tattoo above her breast.

"I've always liked this," Draco muttered, touching the picture with the tip of his fingers, his touch cold compared to the hot water. "Why fire, though? Why not Earth or Water…"

"I believe the expression is 'fire power,' not 'water power' or anything similar," she answered plainly, fighting the goosebumps that were rising on her exposed skin.

"So, why a fairy?"

"Because," she paused, thinking of the answer. "Because fairies are free. Their limit is the sky. They have freedom. Magic. Power."

Draco smiled slightly. He picked up Aurelia's left hand, and traced his fingers down her forearm. "And this? Does this represent power and freedom?"

"No," Aurelia mumbled, shaking her head. "Not freedom. When you're free, you are not bound to anyone, and no one is bound to you."

He let his touch slowly trickle down her arm, to her shoulder, and back again to the grinning creature. "Not like this fairy?"

"No," she exhaled deeply. She had trouble taking her gaze away from his. It wasn't until he was mere centimetres away did she realize he was much too close. By then, though, it was too late. His lips gently met hers. He kissed her with the passion of someone saying goodbye for the last time. She fought with herself for several seconds before part of her won, and she turned away from his lips.

"I don't need you," she whispered, staring into the almost-clear water. The bubbles were nearly gone, but that didn't seem to be of any importance at the moment.

"What?" Draco asked.

"I don't need you, Draco Malfoy," she repeated. She sounded like she was convincing herself more than him. "I don't need you. I don't want you. And I can't love you."

"Can't or don't?" he interrupted.

She ignored him. "I keep trying to push you away, but you keep coming back. After tomorrow, leave and please, stay away. I'll marry Stephen the way I was destined to, and we can go on living our lives."

"Destined to," he snorted. "Sure, sure, whatever you say. Think about this, though, will he still want you? Now that he knows everything…"

"He doesn't know everything."

"He knows enough," he amended.

"He _will_ still want me. I know him well enough," she snapped.

"Fine. But just know that when I die tomorrow—"

"Draco, no you won't—"

"Shut up and let me talk. When I die tomorrow, I want you to know that you will be the last thing on my mind before…," he winced slightly, and Aurelia knew his next words would be something she would never in a million years hear him say. "Before my thoughts disappear. Your face will be the last thing I see before everything turns dark. Your voice will be the last thing I hear before everything is silenced. Your name will be the last thing I whisper before I run out of breath. When I die tomorrow, it will be for you. And, afterward, I want you to realize—not because I'm telling you now, but because you truly believe it—I want you to realize that he would never die for you the way I did."

"Draco, don't—"

He cut her off with a soft kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Draco, come back here! Draco!" she called, but he had already left. Aurelia sighed and sunk deeper into the water.

..

"Green!" Tommy shouted gleefully, trying to catch the green sparks that were floating in the air.

"Good! And what does the green spell do?" Aurelia cooed.

"Bye-bye!"

"Makes people go bye-bye! Good job," she smiled before emitting another shower of sparks from the tip of her wand. Briefly, the thought of Draco going "bye-bye" flitted through her mind, but she pushed the image to the back of her head.

"Red!" Tom exclaimed.

"And what does the red spell do?"

"Sleep!"

"Perfect!"

At that moment, Narcissa burst into the Malfoys' sitting room with a look of pure rage across her handsome features. Aurelia opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but wasn't given the chance. "You! You bitch! What did you do to my son?!"

"Narcissa, what are you talking abou—" Her sentence was cut short as Narcissa's fist collided with her face. Aurelia grasped her jaw in pain, doubling over slightly. "What the _fuck_!"

"I want you to tell me what you did to my son! What the hell is going on?!"

"Narcissa, I swear I don't know what you're talking about!" Aurelia yelled back, and earned herself another punch, straight in the eye.

When she regained consciousness a few seconds later, Narcissa was standing over her with a scowl firmly in place. Aurelia scrambled to think of what could have possible made her that angry, but was coming up blank. What had she done to Draco? She hadn't seen him since last night…Oh, shit.

"Narcissa, listen. I can completely explain!" she started, standing up, but fell right back down.

"Mummy!" Tommy cried off to her right. "Don't hurt my mummy!"

"I'm listening," Narcissa replied sternly, ignoring the worried child. Her tone suggested that she wasn't going to believe whatever bullshit excuse Aurelia was about to supply.

"I swear I had nothing to do with it. He came to me last night, and started talking about dying for me, or something. I honestly have no idea what he was on about. I just brushed it off as a bizarre, temporary reaction to what I told him. I mean…Wait, what exactly is he doing?"

"Why don't you go see for yourself," she sniffed, and motioned out of the room.

Aurelia shot a glance at Tommy who had a worried expression on his face. She smiled weakly at him before brushing past Narcissa. Aurelia ascended the staircase, and paused outside of Draco's bedroom door. She tried to hear what was going on inside, but all she could hear was the shifting of objects. Aurelia took a deep breath, and pushed the door open just a crack. She saw Draco, with his wand out, levitating numerous objects into boxes and piles. Open boxes of books stood on the floor by the door, the top copy stating, _What Goes Up…Doesn't Always Come Down: A biography of one man's unfortunate mishap with a Levitation Charm gone awry_ by Arnold Oswald. Aurelia stifled a giggle at Draco's reading preferences.

She jumped from a loud thud inside the room. Draco dropped a large box; Clothes toppled to the floor from it. He cursed under his breath and flicked his wand at the pile. The clothes began rearranging themselves back into place.

"Enjoying the show?" Narcissa whispered over Aurelia's shoulder.

"What is he doing?" she whispered back, but Narcissa simply motioned for Aurelia to keep watching.

Draco moved to the side from his spot, and Aurelia gasped audibly. She blinked twice to be sure she was seeing correctly. For a moment, she thought it seemed dramatic and silly, but when then again, Draco was the exact definition of dramatic and silly. A gleaming black coffin stood in the centre of his room. Boxes were piled up around it. He wasn't packing up his things; he was cleaning out his room. Aurelia had seen enough. She made to push the door open, but Narcissa grabbed her wrists.

"I think you've done enough, Aurelia."

.

"I'm not entirely sure what to do here, Pansy," Aurelia sighed, plucking a few strands of grass from the ground. "I feel like I should say something, but what?"

"Oh, let's see," she began sarcastically. Aurelia threw her a look. "You could always tell him you love him and stop this bloody Stephen nonsense."

"Pansy, if I remember correctly, it was you that first forced me to go out with Stephen."

"Yeah! Because I thought you needed a rebound relationship! I thought you'd have a fling with him for a week or two, and realize you missed Draco. I never _actually_ believed you would get over him!" She paused. "Which you haven't."

"Says you."

Pansy scoffed. "Whatever you say, Aurelia. As far as Draco's problem right now, he's determined that if he can't have you, then he'd rather not be around to see someone else have you."

"Well, that's dumb!" Aurelia scoffed. "Geez, what happened to the days when it was, 'If I can't have you, no one can.'"

"I think he's already tried that approach," Pansy mumbled.

Aurelia chuckled and leaned back on the ground to soak in the fake-warmth of her garden. She could see frost forming on the trees outside of the magical enchantment. Pansy continued to pluck grass from the ground, which tried to make itself grow faster than she destroyed it.

"Where's Tommy?" Pansy asked after a few minutes of silence.

Aurelia yawned. "He's walking around somewhere in the garden."

As if on cue, a little dark-haired head poked out from behind a large shrubbery. "Mum, look!"

Aurelia groaned and stood herself up. Pansy followed as they walked over to the child. The two girls gasped and jumped back several feet when they saw a snake laying directly next to Tommy's feet.

"What the bloody hell is that thing doing here?" Pansy cried.

"Poor bugger, he probably got into the garden before the enchantments were put up. Must be so lost. He should be hibernating right about now, I think. Oh, come off it, Pansy. It's just a little garden snake. Are you a Slytherin or not?"

"If this is what being a Slytherin entails, then not!" she squeaked.

Aurelia snorted and made to take out her wand, when the creature turned its head on Tommy. Then, they started _talking_ to each other. Aurelia's mouth fell open.

"He's a parselmouth!" she cheered. "He's a parselmouth! He's a parselmouth!"

It took Pansy a few seconds to process the information, her brain still being scrambled by the scare. Then she joined Aurelia in her cheering. Tommy seemed utterly confused.

It took several hours for the excitement of Tommy's ability to wear off. Pansy and Aurelia had made sure they told every single person they came into contact with. Lucius, Draco, Narcissa, even the house elves. A few Death Eaters had stopped by during the day, and Aurelia had shared the happy news with them. Her son truly was the Heir of Slytherin.

.

"I'll see you later tonight, yeah?" Aurelia asked, standing next to the fireplace with Pansy.

"Definitely," she agreed.

"If anything goes wrong tonight—"

Pansy cut her off. "Everything will be fine. Don't say your good-byes just yet."

"It's a little terrifying, isn't it? Though, strangely exciting. It's about time I did something worthwhile, eh?"

Pansy grinned. "You'll be fine. See you tonight. If I'm late, save me some Gryffindors," she joked as she stepped into the fireplace.

"Will do," Aurelia smiled weakly, and Pansy was gone in a flash of green light.

.

Aurelia took a deep breath before sticking her head into the green fire. After a few uncomfortable seconds, she was facing the sitting room of 2 Eaton Ave.

"Stephen! Stephen are you there?" she called out into the house. It was at least a minute until she heard footsteps. Suddenly, a pair of legs appeared in front of her face. "Stephen?"

He bent down to her level. "Aurelia!" he exclaimed.

"I have to talk to you. I'm at the Malfoys' Manor." With that, she pulled her head away with an extreme amount of strength.

After waiting for five minutes, she was almost sure Stephen wasn't coming. With a defeated sigh, she walked from the room. Just as she passed the doorway, though, there came a loud whooshing of fire. She whipped her head around to see Stephen stepping out of the fireplace. She began moving toward him, but had only gotten one step past the doorway before she stopped.

"Aurelia! What happened to you? I was so worried!" He started towards her, but she held up a hand to stop him in his tracks. "What's going on? I came here looking for you, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in my own bed. Now the _Prophet_ is reporting that you escaped from Azkaban, broke into the Ministry, killed three Aurors, and kidnapped a child! They're lying, right?!"

"First off, I didn't kidnap a child. The Ministry took my son from me when I was arrested," she clarified. He still looked confused. "Stephen, I haven't been completely honest with you," she said.

And so, after letting out a deep sigh, Aurelia unravelled her story. She could see the hurt, confusion, worry, and fear flitter across his face as the story of the last few years of her life was laid out before him. When she finished, Stephen stood motionless, staring at her, as though convinced there was an ending to the story where everything turned out alright. Aurelia waited for him to work out that the tale was over. She waiting for him to explode with anger. She knew Draco was standing just around the corner, listening. She could hear his breathing right beside her.

"Aurelia," he said quietly. She braced herself. "Aurelia, I'm so sorry."

Her neck snapped up towards him so fast, whiplash could have ensued. "What?"

"It must be so hard for you to go through this, but it's okay. I can see in your eyes that this isn't what you want. You're just scared. You don't have to be! Come with me now. The Order, the Ministry, they can protect you. You don't need to be this person out of fear."

She could not believe what she was hearing. He was feeling _sorry_ for her? Why couldn't he be like any normal person and be angry with her! Then again, no normal person would ever be angry with her. No one is ever angry with her. She wished people would start treating her like a regular person! Even Narcissa was so afraid for her life after her outburst, that she apologized to Aurelia. Why can't she be the bad guy for once?! Why does everyone always make her out to be the victim?!

"What? No! No, I don't want that! This is who I am, Stephen. Don't you get that?" she argued.

He nodded. "I know that's what you want to make yourself believe, but it's not true."

"Yes, it is! I'm a Death Eater, Stephen! Hell, I fucking _lead_ the Death Eaters. I've killed people before. Heartlessly! I killed my best friend for crying out loud!"

"Because you felt that you had to," he said calmly. "I know you regret it, I can see that you do."

"No, I don't regret it! He was a liar and a half-blood, so I killed him. That's what I do! Why aren't you angry with me?!"

"Do you…want me to be angry with you?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "I want you to be angry! I want you to yell at me, and call me nasty things, just as you would to anyone else! I'm so tired of being treated differently. For once in my life, I want someone to really lash out on me. Don't you feel at all betrayed, or lied to?! "

"It's not your fault, Aurelia."

She groaned in annoyance. She could almost feel Draco rolling his eyes around the corner. There had to be something she could do to anger him.

"I can't be with you anymore, Stephen," she blurted out. Oops.

"What?" he asked, dazed in momentary confusion.

"We're on two completely opposite ends of the world. We can't make this work. I need someone more like me. I need someone who understands what it's like being someone like me. I…," she paused, took a deep breath, and reached back to grab Draco's hand. She pulled him into the room, and both men looked utterly confused. Draco looked a little smug, though.

"_Him_?"

"Yes, him. I need someone like Draco Malfoy. Not someone like you." She waited for the anger.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm fucking not!" she screamed, and turned to Draco, pushing her lips onto his.

The kiss started out rough and angry. When Draco slid his arms around her waist and began kissing her back, however, it turned a little softer. Aurelia's rage turned to surprise and she pushed him away.

"Oh, my God," she whispered. She shook her head, and turned back to Stephen. "Well?"

She could see pure rage across his face, and smiled in triumph. She took a few steps towards him.

"I'm going to kill you!" he screamed. To Aurelia's surprise, he walked straight past her towards Draco.

"Goddamn it! No!" she cried out. She tried to pull out her wand before violence ensued, but wasn't fast enough. Stephen's fist met Draco's chin with a crunch. "_Protego_!"

The invisible shield separated the two immediately. Stephen was gasping for breath, and Draco was rubbing his bruised chin. The look on his face was filled with more loathing than ever before.

"Stephen, what the hell? Why are you angry at him?! I was the one that kissed him!" she yelled.

"Yeah, but—"

"But, nothing!" she interrupted. Stephen calmed himself slightly and took several steps back, giving Aurelia permission to take down the Shield Charm. "Stephen, why aren't you even the least bit angry with me? I lied to you! I betrayed you! I _cheated on you_!"

He scoffed. "I hardly call kissing another man in front of me to make me angry cheating."

She inhaled deeply. Might as well tell him everything. "I slept with him," she muttered. She watched his face for a reaction. "More than once, actually. While we were together, I mean. I can't even count the amount of times before that. As a matter of fact, I'm pregnant."

"You're lying," Stephen said through gritted teeth.

"Am not. Took an indicator Potion just yesterday morning. Tell him, Draco. You saw it. I know you did," she finished. Maybe she'd gone a little too far. Some things are better left unsaid. Nonetheless, she received the reaction she was hoping for.

"You fucking whore," he muttered. He looked straight into her eyes, the hate attempting to burn through her skull. But the hurt was more apparent in his eyes. He was trying to hate her, but he didn't. Which was all she ever needed to know. "You fucking whore, I hope you burn in hell!"

"Oh, I bet you'll make sure of it, won't you? What are you going to do now? Bring me straight to the Ministry? I've lived through something in Azkaban that no person should ever have to live through. Nothing you do to me will be worse than that. Go on, send me back. The Dementor's Kiss will be sweet relief."

"This is what you've chosen, is it? A life with him?" he sighed.

"No," she shook her head. "I haven't. I've chosen you. I just needed to know that I'm making the right choice. I need to know that you can forgive me for everything. I can't take back what has already been done, and I can't change who I am. But I can love you. We _can _be together. If only you'd just take me."

"I can't…," he inhaled. "I'll need a lot of time to think about this."

"I know," she nodded.

"I don't want you to stay with him during that time, though. You'll stay with me until we can sort out this mess," he said. Aurelia nodded and followed him toward the fireplace.

"Wait," she said as he motioned for her to step into the floo-induced flames. "I have to get Tommy. No, you go. It'll only take a minute. I'll see you there." She tried her luck by reaching over and kissing him lightly on the lips. He seemed to accept it.

"2 Eaton Avenue!" Stephen cried out, and was gone.

Aurelia turned to Draco, who was still standing in the doorway. His face was one of pure shock. There was no anger, or pain. Simply shock. She approached him slowly, hoping that the right thing to say would come to her in those few steps it took to cross the room. When she was close enough to touch him, he began to speak instead.

"I didn't know," he whispered. She cocked her head in confusion, and moved closer. "I didn't know you were…"

He let the sentence trail off, but she knew what he meant to say. "You didn't?"

He shook his head. "I had a suspicion when I found out that you hadn't taken your potion, but I didn't actually _know_."

"I'm sor—"

"Don't tell me you're sorry!" She jumped at the harshness of his tone. "Tell me how you can possibly walk out of this house to go live with that git. How did you plan to take our child—_my_ child—with you, and not even give me the courtesy of telling me he existed?! Tell me how you can be so goddamn selfish!"

"I'm sorry," she sighed, stood on her toes to kiss his cheek, and left the room.

* * *

**A/N:** I know it's taking longer and longer for these updates to come out. I just don't want to finish this story. I don't want it to be over. The culmination of almost a year of my life...

Anyway, depending on how long the ending turns out to be will determine if I'm splitting it into two chapters or not. So, expect chapter 25 or 26 to end the story. *sigh*

Happy Easter to all who celebrate it. Bye, loves. Reviews are amazing. 3


	25. Times and Places

**Difficulties _Will_ Arise  
**25. Times and Places

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**Author's Note:** Yes, it's been _way too long._ I am truly sorry for that. To make up for it, I've written an incredibly long chapter. This is runs at 5, 988 words. Yeah, that many. I figured I might as well go out with a bang. Because, yes dear readers, this is the very last chapter of _Difficulties Will Arise_. I'm not going to get sentimental yet. You're all eager to read. Be sure to look at my Author's Note at the end of this chapter for all the nostalgic crying, thank you's, and, not to mention, news on my new upcoming story! So, here it is. The final chapter of _Difficulties Will Arise_. Enjoy.

* * *

Sorry if there are too many grammatical errors, especially toward the end. It's 2 in the morning.

* * *

"You're not going," he said. His voice raised a slight pitch, making it sound slightly like a question.

"Of course I am!" she argued. "Stephen, they won't go without me. I _have_ to be there."

"Exactly! They won't go without you! So don't go! This isn't you. I know you don't want to do this. I know you."

"You don't know me! Up until a few hours ago, you didn't half of the things about me!"

"Perhaps, but I know what you're like. I know that you don't really believe in any of this," he sighed. "Aurelia, please, stay here."

"Stephen, either you can stay here and just try to accept what I'm doing, or you can come with me. But, not matter what, I'm going."

She waited a few beats for Stephen's reaction. She saw it clearly on his face. He wasn't going. He wouldn't support her, or risk his life for her. She shook it all off. Draco was not the right train of thought she should have been riding. After a small kiss to both Stephen and Tommy, Aurelia stepped into the fire, and was off. Back to Malfoy Manor. So much for leaving for good.

"Aurelia, thank Merlin you made it. We worried you wouldn't," greeted Pansy.

"Hello to you, too," Aurelia grumbled. Pansy raised her eyebrow as Aurelia stalked past her.

"Aurelia, Lucius wants a word upstairs," Narcissa said, poking her head around the corner. Aurelia nodded and headed up the staircase.

Aurelia knocked on the study door, and without waiting for anyone to invite her, waltzed into the room. She sat down in front Lucius' desk, waiting for him to grace her with his presence. The high back of the chair concealed him from view. Only the top of his blond head was visible. He turned the chair around with deliberate slowness.

"Are you ready?" he asked. Why was everyone in this family being so dramatic lately?

"Sure," she shrugged.

"How much research and planning have you actually done?"

"None," she replied honestly. "I figured we'd be better off just winging it."

"That's your brilliant plan?" he asked, with an eyebrow shooting upward. "This isn't a game. You can't just go in there and hope everything turns out the way you want it to. This is serious. Our entire future is at stake here."

"Alright, humour me. What's your plan?"

"I think we should send a few lower ranking wizards to go in first, to distract them. Then we all follow them in. Now, there are Anti-Apparition and Apparition Detection charms all around the house, which means that there's a slight chance we might be noticed before we get there. So, I think the first group should be careful going in, and take care of anyone guarding the place. We want the element of surprise on our side."

She started clapping dramatically. "Wonderful. We'll do that," she said, and left.

"Aurelia," Draco called, swaggering toward her in a lazy manner. "What are you doing up here? Come to see me for a quickie in the sack?"

"What?" she asked, a little thrown off by his attitude. He had been so sweet lately.

"Come now, Aurelia, we both know you can't resist me."

"Welcome back, Draco Malfoy," she muttered under her breath.

"Tell me honestly, who's a better shag, me or that Ravenclaw?" he smirked.

Aurelia threw him a dirty look, even the though the answer was nagging the back of her mind. Now was not the time for immaturity.

"It's me, isn't it? I can tell by the look on your face. I won't mind if you wanna give it a go now. You know, goodbye sex or whatnot."

"You really expect that to work on me?"

"It would have worked on the old you," he replied, his smirk dropping.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he said. "The old you. The Aurelia I knew before you went loony. Have you seen yourself lately? You've gone completely mental. I'm not arguing this point, because it's a dead-on fact. I'll be in my bedroom if you ever decide to be Aurelia Finn again."

With that, he left. Aurelia stood, dumbstruck, in the hallway. She stood there for a moment, shook her head, and walked downstairs. He was the one that was mental! All these mood swings and character changes. Honestly, the man that she saw up there was not Draco Malfoy. On second thought, maybe the man she saw _yesterday_ wasn't Draco Malfoy. And then it hit her. The one thing that she could never place that drew her to him. The one thing that made her always come back to him no matter what. The one thing that Stephen was not that Draco was. He was a Slytherin.

Not just in the sense that he was in Slytherin house at school. It was the fact that he acted like a Slytherin. Yes, he was a little bit of a prat sometimes, but he was also sarcastic and witty and charming and just plain sexy. The words sounded ridiculous even in her mind, but that was truly what made Draco attractive to her. She couldn't deny that truth.

But he changed. Apparently, it was short-lived, but he did. He was a completely different person to her last night, and maybe even a few nights before that. The romantic speeches, the declarations of sacrifice, all the dramatics. It was the one thing that made her not care for him. His recent behaviour was what made her strong enough to turn away.

She wandered into the kitchen as she thought this, and started idly rifling through drawers, trying to look busy. This epiphany didn't help matters. Who was he now? Was he now the sweet, romantic, sensitive man she'd seen lately, or was he still the same Draco Malfoy she fell in love with? A paper cut made her yelp. She stuck the bleeding fingertip in her mouth as she peered into the half-open drawer for the culprit. It was a book titled _Flying Carpet to the Sky_. Aurelia screwed up her face. A romance novel? She figured it must have been Narcissa's. She stole the opportunity for something to keep her mind off of Draco. She didn't need to figure out what he was truly like. She shouldn't care.

There was a passage bookmarked in the book. Aurelia flipped to it and began reading. Her insides dropped slightly as she read the small monologue.

When I die tomorrow, I want you to know that you

will be the last thing on my mind before my thoughts

disappear. Your face will be the last thing I see

before everything turns dark. Your voice will be the

last thing I hear before everything is silenced. Your name

will be the last thing I whisper before I run out of breath.

When I die tomorrow, it will be for you. And, afterward,

I want you to realize—not because I'm telling you now,

but because you truly believe it—I want you to realize

that he would never die for you the way I did.

The book fell out of her hands, and crashed to the floor with a loud thud as the spine hit the linoleum. Her breath caught slightly. Her head whirred. She became slightly dizzy. Her thoughts raced. He faked it. It was all just a lie. She composed herself after several seconds and did something she could already imagine herself regretting later.

Aurelia stood from her chair and raced up the stairs. Pausing in front of Draco's bedroom, she took a deep breath. Was she really going to do this, no matter the consequences? Yes. She pushed open the door without knocking. Everything in Draco's room was back to normal. His bookshelf was filled with volumes of reference books and novels. His closet was slightly ajar to show clothes lining the walls. The coffin was gone. Everything was back to normal. Draco sat on his bed, a smirk spread knowingly across his face.

"You bloody liar," she growled, the door shutting with a click behind her. Draco looked like he was about to reply, but she cut him off. "Don't you ever take relationship advice from a romance novel again in your life."

He laughed. She still stood across the room, looking irritated and amused at the same time. Draco stood from the bed and took only a single step towards her. She waited for him to say or do something, but he didn't. He wasn't going to make this easy for her.

"So does this mean I'm a better shag?"

Aurelia ran at him. She tackled him to the bed, pinning his arms down at his sides, and ripped at his clothes.

..

She stood on the empty street, shivering in the cold. Aurelia pulled her cloak as tightly around her as she could. Draco stood next to her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. She tried to avoid looking at him. As expected, she already regretted what she had done. Yelling and bright flashes of light came from up ahead. Aurelia and Lucius turned to look at each other and nodded simultaneously.

"Alright, it's time," Aurelia announced. "Go forward, but be cautious."

At her command, a countless number of Death Eaters streaked down the road toward the Finn Manor. Aurelia ran, crouched, with Draco and Lucius on either side of her. She held her wand tightly in her fist, breathing hard. They were nearly to the front gate now. The moment they crossed through the small metal opening in between the tall hedges, the fighting was all around them. Already, groups of Death Eaters and Aurors were firing spells at each other, engaged in battle.

"_Stupefy_," Aurelia shouted at an Auror coming her way. And so it began. She looked to her right and saw Draco fighting a wizard at least twice his age. She suddenly realized how unfair this battle was.

"Don't leave my sight," he shouted over his shoulder to her. "I mean it, Aurelia. Do not leave my sight."

"I got it, I got it," she waved off. "_Stupefy_!"

Another wizard came running at her, his wand pointed at her face. She dodged his Stunning Spell, but it hit Draco in the back as a result. Her rage boiled. He was fine, she knew, but it didn't stop the anger the swelled up inside of her at seeing that happen.

"_Avada Kedavra_," she shouted, and the wizard fell to the ground. Aurelia quickly knelt down, carefully looking over her shoulder for any oncoming attackers. "_Rennervate_."

"Thanks," Draco mumbled, getting to his feet. Aurelia nodded, and stood next to Draco. They walked slowly across the front yard, their wands held firmly in their grip. Suddenly, Aurelia froze as she heard familiar voices behind her. She whipped her head around to see none other than Weasley, Granger and Potter entering through the front gates.

"Draco, look," she muttered, nudging his side with her elbow. He looked quickly at the trio, and then quickly back to the group of three Aurors duelling his mother. "Go. I'll be fine. She needs you more than I do. Go!"

He hesitated only slightly before running off in the opposite direction to help his mother fight for her life. Aurelia advanced toward the three Gryffindors, who were engaging two of her own.

"Potter!" she yelled, and his head snapped in her direction. "Come for a fight? I've got yours right here!"

Harry Potter walked closer to her, and his eyes widened as recognition of her face dawned on him.

"Merlin's beard," he whispered. "Aurelia Finn?"

Aurelia raised her wand, but at that moment, quite inconveniently, a group of witches and wizards ran by. When they were gone, Aurelia could only see Potter being dragged away by Granger. She'd find him later. He will not walk out of here alive tonight, she thought to herself. She turned to see Draco helping his mother fight off the attackers, which had now turned to four. She decided to help them while she looked around for Potter.

Aurelia recognized the unmistakable cackle of Bellatrix Lestrange as she saw her advancing on a young witch who couldn't have been over the age of twenty. Bella seemed to have been having a great time watching the girl struggle. The phrase 'Don't play with your food' suddenly came to mind, and Aurelia smiled at them as they passed. She heard the young witch throwing out different spells and curses toward Bellatrix, and growing more and more panicked as Bella either deflected or dodged every single one of them. Aurelia looked at them briefly, finding the scene amusing. As the girl grew increasingly more panicked, she began firing nonsensical spells.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" she yelled desperately. "_Ridikulus_! _Accio_! _Engorgio_! _Reducto_!"

The girl fell backwards as she fired her final spell, and the beam of magic shot upward toward the house. It hit the side of the structure. Aurelia watched in horror as tons of bricks and stone rained down on the ground below.

"NARCISSA!" she screamed, her throat cracking at a high pitch.

Draco was already on his knees, digging through the rocks. Aurelia ran towards him. His hands were bloody and scratched; a large gash was clearly visible in the side of his arm where the impact of the debris must have hit him. She levitated the rubble away, and Draco finally removed the last pieces of the wreckage. Narcissa lay crushed, bleeding and lifeless on the soft grass. Draco clutched her to him, the veins in his neck bulging.

"Draco, there's nothing we can do," Aurelia whispered, throwing nervous glances over her shoulder. Several people were watching them, briefly pausing their duels to marvel at the tragedy occurring on the battlefield. "You have to leave her; we have to go."

"Leave her?!" he screamed in horrific outrage.

"Draco, you don't have a choice! Please!" she begged. "Instead of sitting here bitching about it, why don't you go avenge her death by killing as many of these motherfuckers as you can!"

Draco's mouth suddenly drew into a hard line as he got to his feet. He stepped carelessly over the body and stood in front Aurelia. He took her face firmly in his hands and hissed in a low voice.

"Do-not-leave-my-sight," he said through his teeth, even more serious than he had been the last time he said it. She nodded awkwardly. Draco turned abruptly and began walking away from his mother's fallen body. Aurelia followed obediently, wand out.

She saw Potter and his gang pass by them. "Draco, where exactly are we going?"

"I have to tell my father what's happened," he said, turning his head to look at her.

"Right, well, Potter, Weasel and the Mudblood just walked past us, so I think we should do that instead."

"No, Aurelia, I have to find my father," he insisted.

"Draco, it's Potter! Alone! Going into the house! What are the odds of ever having an opportunity like this again?" she argued.

"I don't care. You're staying with me."

"Fine," she huffed. "But if they walk out of here alive tonight, it'll be on your head."

"I'm more concerned with getting _you_ out of here alive tonight," he hissed.

"I'm not a child, Draco!" she protested. "You should be the one taking orders from me."

He scoffed. Aurelia stormed angrily next to him, wanting to cross her arms over her chest like the child she was denying she was, but she kept her wand out steadily in front of her. She saw Lucius standing not 2 meters away. Aurelia looked quickly at Draco beside her, his eyes fixed upon his father. She slowed her stride, so that she was just seconds behind him, unnoticeably. As Draco quickened his pace to get to Lucius faster, Aurelia fell back and ran in the opposite direction. She sprinted away as fast as she could, toward the house.

Aurelia paused just outside the door as she heard Granger whisper in a low, hurried voice.

"Harry, I don't think that now is the time for this."

"When will be the time, then? When everything is destroyed?" Potter replied.

"Harry, mate, I think she's right. People need you out there."

"I'll only be gone a few minutes, Ron. You'll get on fine. Go stand watch or something and I'll be back soon."

"At least put on the cloak," Granger whined. Aurelia rolled her eyes. She suddenly heard a single pair of footsteps going up the stairs.

"Now what?" Weasley asked.

"Why don't you stay here and be look-out for Harry, while I go back out there?" she suggested unsurely.

"Okay, but be safe," he muttered back. There was a moment of silence, during which Aurelia peeked around the corner to see the two kissing. Gross. She gagged a little at the sight. Finally, the two broke away, and Granger came running in Aurelia's direction. She wanted so much to throw a killing cure at the Mudblood, but she had to choose her battles wisely.

"Ron," she called sweetly.

"Who's there?" He whipped around to look at where the sound came from, his wanted pointed in fright.

"Ronald, put that wand down. Do you want to blow my head off?" Aurelia cried, talking as if they were friends.

"Sorry, mate," he apologized, lowering his wand just a mere centimetre.

"Sure, sure," she muttered. "_Avada Kedavra!_" The redhead crumpled to the floor. "Well, that wasn't so hard."

Aurelia strolled past the dead body, smiling at his still form. Stupid blood-traitor Weasley with his Mudblood girlfriend. Look at where that got him. She walked cautiously up the stairs, listening for any sounds that might indicate where Potter might be, but the noise from outside was too deafening over anything going on in the rooms. Aurelia tried to put on her best imitation of Granger's nasally voice.

"Harry, are you up here? Harry, it's Hermione. Where are you? Things are getting crazy down there. I think you should go," she whined.

"I'm up here, Hermione, in the attic," Harry called. Aurelia ground her teeth together. _Her_ attic? Well, that just will not ever go over well. Unfortunately, her Granger impression didn't fool Harry. When she opened the door to the attic room, she was greeted by a wand in front of her face.

"No sudden movements," Potter warned. "Give me your wand."

"No," Aurelia retorted.

"Come on, Aurelia, don't make this harder than it needs to be. We both want to make it out of here alive, so just give me your wand."

"Wow, Potter, where is all this bravery and hostility coming from?" she sneered as she threw her wand to him.

"I grew up," he said shortly. Then he held up a small brown envelope. Aurelia didn't recognize it at first, but then she remembered. It was something that Snape had asked her to hold on to a few years ago. It had completely escaped her memory. It must have been sitting up here all this time, but what did Potter want with it?

"Why do you have this?" Potter snapped.

"Uh, Snape gave it to me. Told me to hold on to it. What is it?" She had never herself bothered to look inside the envelope. She remembered tossing it into a drawer the day she received it. Potter now reached into the envelope and pulled out a golden necklace with an emerald in the shape of an animal. A deer or an elk or something equally similar.

"Snape, huh? Where did he get it?" Harry steamed.

"I don't know, Potter. It's none of my business. He gave it to me, told me to hold on to it, and I dumped it in a drawer. Why does it matter to you?"

"It was for my mother," he muttered, examining the piece of jewellery. "My dad was planning to give it to her for their anniversary. He gave it to Sirius to hold on to, but the day never came…It was gone from the house at Grimmauld Place two years ago."

"Is this what you came here for? Whatever, you can have it. Now, give me my wand," she said.

"Not a chance," he sneered. "You're going straight back to Azkaban."

"Not a chance," Aurelia mimicked. "If anyone is going to Azkaban, it's going to be you. That's assuming, of course, that you make it out of here alive tonight."

"I'll make it out alive, don't you worry."

"I'm not worrying." They stared at each other for a long minute. "So is this how you're going to claim to have defeated me? Take my wand, and send me off to Azkaban. You're such a coward. At least have the balls to fight me first."

"Right, because I'm that stupid," he said sarcastically. Aurelia rolled her eyes. Another minute passed, and Potter suddenly threw her wand straight into her hands. She smirked, and held the wand up to be level with his.

"Ready for this?" she smirked. "I've been waiting for ages."

"I'm sure you have."

"_Crucio!_"

"_Protego!_"

"_Stupefy!_"

"_Expelliarmus!_" he shouted. Her wand flew backward out of her hand, through the doorway, and down the staircase.

"Okay, none of that, Potter." She lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. They wrestled for the wand, until Aurelia finally managed to snap his wrist. She grabbed the wand and stood up in haste, pointing it at him. "Looks like you're not making it out alive. _Avada Kedavra!_"

She waited. She waited, and watched. Somehow, she was sure Potter would get up and keep fighting. Nothing seemed to be able to kill this kid, but now it should be done. It should have already been done. But as she waited, nothing happened. Potter simply lay motionless on the floor. Just as relief began to flood her, a loud rumbling erupted from overhead. Before Aurelia could react, the ceiling came crashing in on her.

..

"Where is she?" he cried frantically. Not waiting for anyone to answer, he sprinted toward the house. Throwing the door open he looked around, calling out her name. He ran from room to room, trying to find her. She was dead, he knew it. He knew it the moment she disappeared from his sight. She was dead.

He sprinted the last set of stairs up the attic. The single door in front of the staircase there was half-open. The handle was blown off in a shower of splinters. Someone had broken in. He pushed the door opened. The ceiling had caved in, leaving a mess of rubble in the room. The image of his mother's broken body flashed to his mind. Not her, too, he thought.

Aurelia lay on the floor, crumpled and bleeding, her eyes glassy and unfocused. With a sharp intake of breath, Draco fell to his knees beside her and brought her head up to rest in his lap. A large gash on her forehead was bleeding fervently, covering her entire face with the warm, sticky red. And, while Draco wished that was the worst of it, it wasn't. Her robes were soaked through with blood by a wound in her side. It was big enough to fit Draco's entire fist and bleeding enough that she could be dead within minutes; which she wasn't yet. Draco felt her pulse. It was present, albeit weak. Draco hastily removed the muggle shirt he was wearing beneath his travelling cloak and ripped it in two. Taking one half, he bunched it up to suppress the bleeding on Aurelia's side and the other on her head.

"Talk to me," he whispered. "Aurelia, please."

She didn't seem to have enough energy to reply, but her eyes shifted slowly to look at him. Tears were falling rapidly down Draco's cheeks as he watched Aurelia dying in his arms, and knew there was nothing he could do to stop it. Not alone in the attic of a broken house and without a wand. Without his own stupid wand. What was he thinking? He should have found a replacement after that fucking Mudblood Granger had disarmed him of his own. Stupid, Draco, stupid!

"Aurelia, please, don't leave me. Please, stay awake, Aurelia. Don't die. Please, don't die. I need you, Aurelia. Please, don't die," he wept. He continued to talk to her, hoping against hope that his voice would be enough to keep her alive. Then, a sound erupted from her throat. A moan. It was a pained and dying moan, but it was a moan nonetheless.

"Dr—," she choked out and began coughing up spurts of blood.

"Shh," he whispered, sobbing. "Don't exert your energy. It'll be okay, darling. It'll be over soon. I'll get you some help, I promise. Don't leave me, please. Do you have your wand, Aurelia? Aurelia, your wand. Do you have it?"

She let her head drop to one side. Draco followed her gaze to the pieces of Holly that were crushed by a large chunk of the ceiling. Draco drew in a sharp, shaky breath. He began shaking his head back and forth fiercely.

"It'll be okay, Aurelia. I promise. We need to get you some help. Please stay awake, Aurelia. Please," he sobbed. Releasing her forehead, Draco put his right arm underneath her and stood cautiously, still holding the now-soaked cloth to her bleeding side. Aurelia groaned audibly as she was shifted, but Draco knew that if he didn't move her, it would be worse.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he summoned all the energy and coordination he had remaining before proceeding downward. He felt Aurelia falling from his grasp and had to stop to get a better hold of her slippery body. She felt cold and lifeless in his hands. He could see her eyes slipping shut, though she seemed determined to fight for her life. Doing his best to not break down, Draco continued on.

"Please, stay with me, Aurelia," Draco begged. "Please, Aurelia, I love you. Please, don't leave me. Stay strong, Aurelia. You can do this, I know you can."

"Dr—," she tried again and coughed up more blood. This time her eyes slid shut and stayed closed for at least two seconds. Too long to be a blink. She slowly reopened them but Draco could see that she was losing the battle.

"Aurelia, please stay awake. Please don't die! Aurelia, please," he sobbed as he reached the landing and rested to fix his grip on her.

"Draco!"

Draco's head shot up. Someone was calling for him. Someone from downstairs. He opened his mouth to yell for them but his voice got caught. As he cleared his throat, he heard Aurelia moan again, her eyes slowly closing.

"No," he mouthed. The shock settled in, the grief evaporated and all of his emotions were replaced by flowing panic. "No! Aurelia, no! Wake up! HELP! Someone! I'm up here! Help!"

Draco heard running footsteps coming up the stairs. Aurelia blinked once, twice. The voices grew closer and louder. Aurelia blinked twice more and her eyes fell closed. Draco let out a sob as he felt Aurelia being lifted from his arms. He grabbed for her weakly, but his eyes blurred with tears, his throat closed up, and everything turned black as he lost consciousness.

..

The bright sunlight reflected off the windows in the bedroom. The blinding light made it hard to see. Funny how the sun always seems to shine brighter on days of mourning. Going to a party? 14 and raining. Attending a funeral? 27 and sunny. That's England for you.

A knock at the door. Lucius Malfoy poked his head in through the crack. "Are you feeling well enough to go?"

"I'd go even if I weren't."

"We're leaving in ten minutes. Maybe you should get dressed," he suggest. He closed the door, then, and walked out.

Without really having the energy to do so, Aurelia rolled over on her side and pushed to her feet. Her feet felt like jelly after not having been used for so long. She struggled to pull some of her finest black robes on over body, being careful not to graze the scars on her side. They were well-healed by magic, but even touching them scared her. She felt as though the gaping hole in her side would pop open again at a moment's notice, this time killing her for good.

Once she was dressed, she walked downstairs, where Lucius was waiting for her with Tommy. She didn't bother asking where Draco was; she didn't care. The three of them Apparated to a cemetery. Aurelia didn't know exactly where they were, but she was probably better off not knowing how to ever find the place again. They stood at all three funerals in the course of just a few hours. First was Narcissa's. Draco and Lucius stood together, their heads bowed in sorrow. She stood on the opposite side of the crowd. She didn't feel like she belonged there with them. The second was the grave of Bellatrix Lestrange. She was buried next to her sister. Aurelia felt well enough to make a better speech at this funeral that at the last one. Bellatrix was still family, but Narcissa had been almost like a mother to her. It was hard to see both of them in the ground now. Her mother and her aunt.

The last grave hurt the most. She didn't manage to say more than "I loved you," when asked to make her speech. She watched Pansy Parkinson's gleaming white coffin being covered with dirt, and bile rose up in her throat. Pansy had been more than just a friend. She had been everything a girl could ask for. They had laughed together, she had helped Aurelia through some really shitty times, and most importantly of all, she had been there for her, no matter what. Aurelia wished that she could've been there for her best friend. She never got her chance to say goodbye. She never got her chance for any of them.

When the services were over, Aurelia walked farther into the cemetery, reading the tombstones as she passed, looking for one in particular. She never went to the funerals of her other Death Eaters for two reasons: (1) She didn't feel well enough, but even if she did, she (2) didn't need to see more of the damage she had caused. So many people had died because of her. Sure, now the world was a better place to live in. Soon, sooner than she could imagine, her son would be the one to own it all. But, at what cost? At the cost of her family and friends?

After ten minutes of searching, Aurelia found what she was looking for. Stephen Wheeler's grave. She knelt down on her knees and clutched at her side, trying to keep her heart from falling through her ribs. What stupid, stupid, stupid logic would lead a person to make the decision to put their life in that kind of danger? Why did he come? What could he possibly have had to gained?!

"Aurelia," Draco's voice called from several paces behind her. She shook her head, but he approached anyway. "I know it how much it hurts, but—"

"No, you don't," she interrupted him. "You don't know how it hurts at all. I know you've had your fair share of losses over there, Draco, but this isn't the same kind of loss. I _loved_ him. I still do. I don't think you can possibly understand what this feels like."

"Can't I? I thought I lost you, too. You lay in my arms, seconds away from bleeding to death. I watched them carry you away from me. I didn't know if you would come back. I didn't know anything. You think I don't know what it feels like? I felt it worse, Aurelia. I saw you dying, I watched you suffer for your life, but I never knew if you made it out alive. You didn't know about him until after it happened. You got the aftershock, I got the whole damn earthquake."

She waited a few seconds before continuing. "Remember when you told me that he would never die for me the way you would have? I know you didn't mean it, that it was just a line you memorized from a book, but I think this is you eating your words."

"Not really," he shook his head. "He didn't die for you. He died looking for you, he died wanting to find you, he died trying to tell you not to put yourself in danger, but he didn't die for you. He didn't sacrifice his life to save yours. It's not the same thing."

"Still more of a sacrifice that you made for me."

"Would you rather I have died? I'm not the one that showed up to a battle of war, completely oblivious and unprepared. I'm not the one that died recklessly, leaving you here to cry yourself to bits over my passing. I think I did much more for you than he thought to. I don't think that hurting you like this is what I would call a sacrifice."

He took her face in his hands, then. They were both still kneeling on the soft of earth of the graveyard. He stared at her face, scrutinizing it with his eyes. Tears were dried upon her cheeks, her eyes glassy from the weeping. He looked at her some more and then whispered to her very quietly, as though telling a great secret.

"Is it possible, and I think it is, to love two people at the same time? If these two people were very different, would it be possible for someone to love them both? But, now, can you love just me? I mean it, Aurelia. I need you. I need you to please come back to me. Now, more than ever, we need each other."

"I think that need was always a part of this relationship, but I was never sure whether wanting or needing coincided the way they should have."

"Are you sure now?"

"No."

Draco sighed. Aurelia took his hands, and lowered them to his sides. She ran the back of her hand down his cheek, the corner of her mouth pulled up just a centimetre. He closed his eyes to enjoy the feel of her hand on his face.

"Maybe I need time to heal," she said finally.

"Maybe?"

"Everything has a time and a place. Ours just hasn't arrived yet."

"And will it?" he asked. Then added, "And will you be there?"

She nodded. "I promise."

"Then, I'll wait. I'll create my own times and places everywhere, and one day soon, your time and place will be the same as mine. I'm not letting go without a fight."

"You wouldn't be my Draco if you did," she whispered, and leaned her head against his chest.

* * *

**A/N:** God, where to begin!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who has read. I would like to thank everyone that has been here since the very beginning, it's been a long time, and you've stuck with it. Even if you only picked this story up recently, or even today, thank you anyway. It's a joy to see people reading my story. The reviews I've gotten along the way have really been an inspiration. All in all, thank you to everyone that has taken an interest in this story. I really hoped you had fun.

A personal note to and about Aurelia Finn. Aurelia was quite possibly the most enjoyable character I have ever written. She was really a blast to create, and an even greater joy to develop. As Brad and I would say, she was one crazy hoe. But as much of a psycho bitch as she might have been, she was still my very own personal creation. It really pains me to put her away forever, but I don't think I'll ever forget this character. I grew close to her in this past year. I hope that all of the characters I create from here on out could be as much fun as her.

And, so, it all comes to a close. Thank you to everyone that encouraged me to keep this going, even when I thought I couldn't pull through any longer. Thank you to everyone that enjoyed it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

News on my new story: I already have a plan in action. I've just completed my outline for this year's summer project. It's going to be another Draco/OC fic, but with a different twist this time around. At first, the idea might sound a little cliché, but I can assure you, it will be no such thing. The story takes place in year 6. It is HBP-compliant. You know me, I love the canon! My main character (yet to be named) is forced to choose one Pureblood boy to be married to at the age of 17. Well, her choice runs her into a little bit of trouble with the Dark Lord. She has to decide between the life she's already chosen, but does not want, or her freedom. I think it'll be nice. Not ever as good as UA and DWA, but I still can't wait to write it.

If you're interested in that, put me on your Author Alerts and the first chapter should be out sometime within the next week. Can't wait to see you all there!

So, goodbye everyone. Please, this is the last time I'm asking, leave your reviews. It's been almost a year that I've worked on this project, and I would really love to know how you all felt about it. I bid you all adieu, farewell, au revoir, and see ya later! I love you all for being here. Take care. Goodbye, parting is such sweet sorrow.

Okay, seriously. Bye.


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